David Renton, Baron Renton

Who was David Renton, Baron Renton?

David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton, KBE, QC, TD, DL, PC 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.

He was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1933. He practised a mixed caseload of civil and criminal law on the South-east Circuit. He was elected as a member of the General Council of the Bar in 1939, and was Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1979, the year he retired from the House of Commons.