Lord Drayson Minister for Science and Innovation
By Eliza Parr, Kelly Davies and Jessica England.
Ribby with Wrea Church of England Primary School. Preston Lancashire

Lord Drayson grew up in Kent near Brandshatch which was close to a race track therefore he was always fascinated by things that went fast! He even made his very own go-cart when he was 11. Furthermore, by 12 he was making radios and he said that he was particularly fascinated by anything that was mechanical. He really enjoyed “cool experiments at school” When he got a bit older he started to understand science and technology and his passion grew and it went from there. He does not regret getting involved in science and technology as he says today he has the chance to see the UK’s new experiments and inventions!

Lord Drayson

Our names are Eliza Parr, Kelly Davies and Jessica England and we are all aged 11. On Thursday 18^th June we travelled all the way to London from Preston to interview Lord Drayson! This article will be all about our meeting with Lord Drayson and the person behind his great career. The room we were in had beautiful views of London however that could not take away the tension that we were all feeling! There was a long wait for Lord Drayson but when he finally came we all stood up with respect. Then the interview started….
Lord Drayson grew up in Kent near Brandshatch which was close to a race track therefore he was always fascinated by things that went fast! He even made his very own go-cart when he was 11. Furthermore, by 12 he was making radios and he said that he was particularly fascinated by anything that was mechanical. He really enjoyed “cool experiments at school” When he got a bit older he started to understand science and technology and his passion grew and it went from there. He does not regret getting involved in science and technology as he says today he has the chance to see the UK’s new experiments and inventions! He really enjoyed doing science at school; however he found maths a challenge and was not naturally adept at it. Although his wife (Elspeth) is a physician and has a talent for maths! He said “your pass to doing fun stuff is doing your homework” Lord Drayson feels that it is imperative that the majority of engineers are working on climate change.
He wants people to have a quality of life without destroying the planet. As he does car racing, which is reasonably bad for the planet, he thinks that racing car should use 2^nd generation renewable fuel like he does. Lord Drayson believes that the best time spent is with his family and that is his number one priority. His hobby is motor racing, he also likes reading, listening to music and, like in his youth, fixing any mechanical things! When Lord Drayson discovered that he was going to race at Le Mans he felt “very emotional and lost for words”! He had always wanted to do this and he was over the moon that he had achieved his goal. At the moment Lord Drayson owns two Aston Martins and he raced one of them at Le Mans which is the Aston Martin Vanquish - the James Bond car! He also likes the car make Lotus. He definitely wants to drive the Bloodhound SSC and has asked the driver Andy Green, who has broken the sound barrier. However sadly the answer was no!
His children all have different passions and some of them are involved in science like his eldest daughter, Olivia who is 13 and wants to be an astronaut. Also there is George who wants to be a cricket player, Charles who wants to be an inventor (he has also made many things out of kitchen foil), Francesca who is 5 and wants to be a princess (but most girls do when they are this age)! Lord Drayson said that he “doesn’t mind what job they decide to do” but he wants them to “do something that they love and will put their heart and soul into”. He feels he has been very lucky in life and feels that he has the right job for him and enjoys it very much too. He doesn’t really know what he would have done instead of science and technology. Because he is very good at what he does he has therefore made a lot of money from the sale of his company PowerJect (which he sold for £540 million)! This enables him to pursue the things in life that he really enjoys.
Science and motor racing both play a big part in his life but are totally different. He feels that racing needs full concentration and is very intense and absorbing. However science is very cerebral and requires some very good social skills. Meeting with Lord Drayson has been a great experience and we will never forget it!