Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill

Lord Anthony Lester
Lord Lester talking at a Lambeth Liberal Democrats meeting
Nationality	British
Occupation	Politician, lawyer

Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC (born 3 July 1936) is a British barrister and politician, sitting in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat.

Lester was born into a Jewish family and was educated at the City of London School. He then studied history and law at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Harvard Law School, graduating with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Laws degrees respectively.

Lester was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1963 and took silk in 1975. In 1987, he was appointed to be a recorder and was in office until 1993. As a barrister he works from Blackstone Chambers. He was appointed Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Law at University College Cork (Ireland) in 2005.

In the 1960s and 1970s Lester was directly involved with the drafting of race relations legislation in Britain. During these periods, he acted as the chair of the legal subcommittee of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (C.A.R.D.) and was a member of several organizations working for racial equality such as the Society of Labour Lawyers, Fabian Society, Council of the Institute of Race Relations, British Overseas Socialist Fellowship and the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants. In 1968, he co-founded the Runnymede Trust left-wing think-tank with Jim Rose. He was Chairman of the Runnymede Trust from 1991 to 1993.