WHO'S WHO
BIOGRAPHY
I was born in 1933 and educated at Eton and then I undertook National Service 1951-1953. I graduated with a law degree from Trinity College Cambridge in 1956 and then I won a Harkness Fellowship to study law at Harvard University. I have practised as a barrister since 1959 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1979.
In 1972 I joined the board of Justice, the British Arm of the International Committee of Jurists. During the referendum on Britain’s membership of the EC I was an active member of "Lawyers for Europe" but I remained uninspired by the existing Political Parties. Then when Roy Jenkins delivered the Dimbleby Lecture I joined the Council for Social Democracy and was a founder of the SDP. I was the drafter of its Constitution, a job I undertook again seven years later for the Liberal Democrats. I chaired the SDP conference committee from 1982-1988 and then the Liberal Democrat conference committee until 1991. I was a key supporter of the merger between the SDP and the Liberals. I served on the Federal Policy Committee 1988-1997 (latterly as vice-chair) and became an active member of policy working groups.
I was the parliamentary Candidate for Kensington 1983 and 1987 and for the byelection 1988 and also 1992 for Oxford West and Abingdon.
I was knighted in 1989 and then made a Life Peer in 1997. In the Lords I was the Party's shadow Lord Chancellor until December 2006, when I was appointed Chair of the Delegated Powers Committee. I also sit on the Committee on Standards in Public Life and two Select Committees. Recently I have been involved in the Proceeds of Crime Bill.
I married Celia Herbert in 1966 and we have two daughters, one son and three
grandchildren. My outside interests include, walking, skiing and foreign
travel.
Photograph by permission of Alex Folkes/Fishnik.com
