Dr Nigel Martin is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

. He is currently a member of Durham County Council, representing Neville's Cross

Neville's Cross

Neville's Cross is a place in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the A167 trunk road to the west of the centre of Durham.The area is primarily residential, although there is a newsagent, some public houses and a primary school located there...

 since 1985. He is a Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

, and leader of said party in the council. He has run for Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 three times, in 1987 for Newcastle Central

Newcastle upon Tyne Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Newcastle upon Tyne Central is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

, 1992 and 1997 for City of Durham

City of Durham (constituency)

City of Durham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

. He also stood for election to the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 in 1994 for County Durham and Blaydon

Durham (European Parliament constituency)

Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...

.

He was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Durham University

Durham University

The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

 and from 2000-2008 Principal of Trevelyan College

Trevelyan College

Trevelyan College, often abbreviated to Trevs, is a college of the University of Durham in North Eastern England. Founded in 1966, the college takes its name from social historian George Macaulay Trevelyan, Chancellor of the University from 1950 to 1957. Originally an all-female college , the...

. His mathematical interest focused on graph theory and combinatorics. He is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

, reading for his undergraduate degree there, as well as his PhD, he was also a Research Fellow.