David Renton, Baron Renton
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David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton, KBE, QC, TD, DL, PC (born 12 August 1908), is a British politician.
Renton, a barrister, served in the Middle East for three years in World War II and was president of the military court in Tripolitania. He was National Liberal and then Conservative Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire for 34 years, first elected in the 1945 general election. When he stood down from his Huntingdonshire seat, his successor as MP was the future Conservative Prime Minister John Major. In 1979 he was made a life peer, as Baron Renton, of Huntingdon in the County of Cambridgeshire, and took his seat in the House of Lords.
Renton is currently the oldest peer in the House of Lords (as of 4 April 2004). In July of 2003, just short of his 95th birthday, he passed his driving test for the first time. He has been a regular driver since 1934, at a time when there was no formal driving test in the United Kingdom.
He has been a leader in the movement to preserve the traditions of the House of Lords, including lifelong membership for members of the Peerage. According to the Washington Post in 2005, Renton maintains that "the genius of the upper house is that it includes world-renowned experts in law, science and the arts who would never run for election", and that "'Democracy has its limitations."'
- Pomp, Tradition of House of Lords Comfort Some, Alienate Others, Washington Post, December 4, 2005
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by: Sidney Peters |
Member of Parliament for Huntingdonshire 1945–1979 |
Succeeded by: John Major |
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Categories: Conservative MP (UK) stubs | 1908 births | Living people | Conservative MPs (UK) | Life peers | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire | Recipients of the Territorial Decoration
