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David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke

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The Lord Willoughby de Broke
DL
UKIP Spokesperson, House of Lords
Personal details
Born
Leopold David Verney

(1938-09-14) September 14, 1938 (age 86)
Political partyUKIP
Other political
affiliations
Conservative (until 2007)
Alma materNew College, Oxford

David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke DL (born 14 September 1938) is a British member of the House of Lords.[1]

Early life

Leopold David Verney was born on 14 September 1938. The only son of John Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke and Rachel Wrey, Verney was educated at Le Rosey in Switzerland and at New College, Oxford where he studied modern languages (MA).[2]

Career

He inherited his father's title in 1986[3] and is one of the 90 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999; originally elected a Conservative peer, he defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in January 2007,[4] making him one of only four UKIP members at Westminster.

Since 1992, he has been Chairman of the St Martin's Theatre Company Ltd.[5] - the building of the St Martin's Theatre was commissioned by his grandfather. From 1999 to 2004, he was President of the Heart of England Tourist Board.[6]

From 1990 to 2004, Willoughby de Broke was Patron of the Warwickshire Association of Boys' Clubs[7] and from 2005 to the present has been Chairman of the Warwickshire Hunt.[8] Since 2002 he has been a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and also since 2002 the president of the Warwickshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

On 19 November 2009, Willoughby de Broke introduced the Constitutional Reform Bill 2009-10 into the House of Lords, with clauses to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and the Human Rights Act 1998, to reduce the powers of the House of Commons and government, to reduce MPs' pay, and to give more power to local authorities.[9]

On 29 May 2012, Willoughby de Broke introduced the Referendum (European Union) Bill 2012-13 to the House of Lords, to make provision for the holding of a referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union, on the same day as the next General Election.[10][11]

Personal life

He married Petra Aird, the daughter of Colonel Sir John Renton Aird, Bart., in 1965. They divorced in 1989, and in 2003 he married secondly Alexandra du Luart, only daughter of Sir Adam Butler and a granddaughter of Lord Butler of Saffron Walden. He has two sons by his first marriage, Rupert and John Verney, and two stepdaughters.

The heir apparent to the title is his eldest son, the Hon Rupert Greville Verney (born 1966).

Ancestry

Family of David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke
16. Robert Verney, 17th Baron Willoughby de Broke
8. Henry Verney, 18th Baron Willoughby de Broke
17. Georgiana Taylor
4. Richard Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke
18. James Smith-Barry
9. Geraldine Smith-Barry
19. Eliza Jacson
2. John Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke
20. Robert Hanbury
10. Charles Hanbury
21. Emily Hall
5. Marie Hanbury
22. John Mackenzie
11. Christina Mackenzie
23. Mary Inglis
1. David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke
24. Sir Henry Bourchier Wrey, 9th Baronet
12. Sir Henry Bourchier Toke Wrey, 10th Baronet
25. Ellen Toke
6. Sir Robert Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 11th Baronet
26. Philip Sherard, 9th Baron Sherard
13. Hon. Marianne Sherard
27. Anne Weekes
3. Rachel Wrey
28. John Fraser
14. William Fraser
29. Emilie Nottebohm
7. Jessie Fraser
15. Anna Onnen

References

  1. ^ UKIP: People: Peers
  2. ^ The New College Register 2001
  3. ^ www.peerage.com
  4. ^ UKIP members in the House of Lords UKIP Central and South Derbyshire Branch
  5. ^ "Lord Willoughby de Broke", UK Parliament. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
  6. ^ www.tourismalliance.com
  7. ^ www.wayc.org.uk
  8. ^ www.warwickshirehunt.co.uk
  9. ^ "Constitutional Reform Bill [HL] 2009-10". Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  10. ^ "Referendum (European Union) Bill [HL] 2012-13 - UK Parliament".
  11. ^ "Referendum (European Union) Bill (HL Bill 28)".
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Willoughby de Broke
1986–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent