Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth

Philip Norton, Baron Norton of Louth, (born 5 March 1951), is an English author, academic and Conservative life peer. He has sat in the House of Lords since 1998. He has been described as "the United Kingdom's greatest living expert on Parliament" and "a world authority on constitutional issues".

Education The son of George Ernest Norton, Philip Norton was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth, where he now sits as a governor and Warden of the School. He graduated from the University of Sheffield with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and later as a Doctor of Philosophy, and, after winning a Thouron Award, from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Arts degree.

Career Norton is a professor of government in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Hull, and was head of the department from 2002 to 2007. Norton's early work is notable for having spearheaded the academic discussion on dissidence in the House of Commons with the publication of his first book in 1975. Since 1988, Norton has been responsible for the university's "Westminster-Hull Internship Programme" (WHIP), a placement scheme which pairs students with some of the UK's top politicians. Norton is the founder and editor of The Journal of Legislative Studies, most recently editing its 25th anniversary publication: The Impact of Legislatures: A Quarter-Century of The Journal of Legislative Studies. He has also been the chair of the Conservative Academic Group since 2000. Norton has also previously served as president of the British Politics Group in the US, and the Politics Association.

Norton chaired the Standards Committee of the City of Hull from 1999 to 2003.

He was created a life peer with the title Baron Norton of Louth, of Louth in the County of Lincolnshire on 1 August 1998. In 2000, he chaired a commission for Leader of the Opposition William Hague to design ideas for the strengthening of the institution of Parliament, and from 2001 to 2004 he served as the first Conservative chairman of the House of Lords Constitution Committee. Since 2013, Norton has chaired the Higher Education Commission.

In 2007, The Daily Telegraph named him the 59th most influential person on the right of British politics. a collaborative blog by members of the House of Lords for the purposes of public engagement. The Guardian has described him as "a new star of the blogosphere." He has been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts since 1995 and the Royal Historical Society since 2018. Lord Norton also has a personal blog in which he often cites some of the many evolving responsibilities he undertakes in political and academic circles. For example, Norton has served as co-chair of the Committee on Higher Education since 2012. He is convenor and co-founder of the Campaign for an Effective Second Chamber: a group which reinforces the utility of the House of Lords as a democratic institution. Since 2020, Norton has served as the chair of The History of Parliament Trust Norton founded and organises the biennial Workshop of Parliamentary Scholars and Parliamentarians, which draws scholars and parliamentarians from around the world.

Norton has a quiz on the Lords of the Blog and also often has caption competitions on his personal blog. The Norton View attracts readership from around the world.

Norton is an Ambassador for Akt, a charity that supports LGBTQ+ individuals aged 16–25 who are rendered homeless.

Fellowships

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), 1995 Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS; previously Academician, AcSS), 2001 Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS), 2018

Honorary academic degrees

Hon LLD, Lincoln University, 2011 Honorary Senior Fellow, Regent's University, 2019