Norman Lamb was born in 1957 and worked as a solicitor specialising in employment law before he moved into politics. He was a councillor, and leader of the Lib Dem group, in Norwich before later becoming MP for North Norfolk. He held the seat from 2001 until the 2019 general election.

Norman Lamb ran for the Liberal Democrat leadership in 2015, when he lost to Tim Farron. He was knighted in 2019 for his work on mental health.