The Right Honourable The Lord Renton KBE TD PC QC DL |
|
---|---|
Photograph of Renton by Bassano Ltd, taken 20 March 1959.
|
|
Chairman of the National Liberal Party | |
In office 1964–1968 |
|
Preceded by | Colin Thornton-Kemsley |
Succeeded by | Office Dissolved |
Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire |
|
In office 5 July 1945 – 3 May 1979 |
|
Preceded by | Sidney Peters |
Succeeded by | John Major |
Personal details | |
Born |
Dartford, Kent, England |
12 August 1908
Died | 24 May 2007 Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England |
(aged 98)
Political party |
National Liberal Conservative |
David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton, KBE TD PC QC DL (12 August 1908 – 24 May 2007) was a British politician. He served for over 60 years in Parliament, 34 in the House of Commons and then 28 in the House of Lords. He was Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire for 34 years, from 1945 to 1979, initially as a Liberal National and then in accordance with the party's successive mergers with the Conservatives, as a "National Liberal and Conservative", then in 1968 he was one of the final three National Liberal MPs who opted to wind up the party and become a full part of the Conservatives. Renton became a life peer in 1979, and was the oldest member of the House of Lords from 2004 until his death.
Renton was born in Dartford, the son of a surgeon and a nurse. He was educated at Stubbington and Oundle School and studied at University College, Oxford, of which he was made an honorary fellow in 1990. Going up to read medicine, he switched to law. He was president of the Oxford University Liberal Club. He played Rugby Fives for the University of Oxford, and played cricket and rugby union for his college.