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Tim Renton

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The Lord Renton of Mount Harry
Minister of State for the Arts
In office
28 November 1990 – 11 April 1992
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byDavid Mellor
Succeeded byDavid Mellor (as Secretary of State for National Heritage)
Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office
24 July 1989 – 28 November 1990
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byDavid Waddington
Succeeded byRichard Ryder
Minister of State for Immigration
In office
13 June 1987 – 25 July 1989
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byDavid Waddington
Succeeded byPeter Lloyd
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
2 September 1985 – 13 June 1987
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byRichard Luce
Succeeded byDavid Mellor
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
11 September 1984 – 1 September 1985
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byRay Whitney
Succeeded byTim Eggar
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
8 June 1997 – 14 April 2016
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for Mid Sussex
In office
28 February 1974 – 8 April 1997
Preceded byConstituency Created
Succeeded byNicholas Soames
Personal details
Born (1932-05-28) 28 May 1932 (age 92)
Political partyConservative
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford

Ronald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, PC (born 28 May 1932) is a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Tim Renton, who rarely uses his first name of Ronald, won scholarships to Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and graduated with a first class degree in History.

Parliamentary career

After unsuccessfully contesting Sheffield Park in 1970, he was Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid-Sussex from 1974 to 1997.

He served as a Minister of State in both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, and served as Margaret Thatcher's Chief Whip (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury) between 1989 and 1990. After Thatcher's resignation in 1990 he served in John Major's government as Minister for the Arts between 1990 and 1992. During this time he launched National Music Day (UK) with Mick Jagger which ran from 1992 until around 1997.[1][2] He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Biffen, the Trade Secretary but resigned from that position in 1981 after he refused to support the government on a vote about a windfall tax on bank profits.

After standing down from the Commons at the 1997 General Election, he was created a life peer in the 1997 Dissolution Honours;[3] on 9 June 1997 as Baron Renton of Mount Harry, of Offham in the County of East Sussex,[4][5] and took his seat in the House of Lords. He retired from the House on 14 April 2016.[6]

Family

In 1960, he married Alice Blanche Helen Fergusson, daughter of Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet of Kilkerran. The couple live in Offham near Lewes in East Sussex and have a holiday home on the Hebridean island of Tiree.

Their four surviving children are Alexander James Torre (a journalist and author),[7] Christian Louise, Daniel Charles Antony and (Katherine) Chelsea, who is an artist. The couple's youngest daughter, Polly Renton (Penelope Sally Rosita), a documentary film maker, died in a car accident in 2010.[7]

Bibliography

  • The Dangerous Edge, Hutchinson, 1994, ISBN 0-09-179151-0
  • Hostage to Fortune, Arrow, 1998, ISBN 0-09-946831-X
  • Chief Whip, Politico's, 2005, ISBN 1-84275-129-8

References

  1. ^ "The List: 19 Jun 1992". The List Archive. 19 June 1992. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Joining in: Investigation into Participatory Music in the UK - PDF Free Download". epdf.pub. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ "No. 54743". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 April 1997. p. 4708.
  4. ^ "No. 54791". The London Gazette. 12 June 1997. p. 6845.
  5. ^ "No. 24212". The Edinburgh Gazette. 17 June 1997. p. 1485.
  6. ^ Lord Renton of Mount Harry – UK Parliament
  7. ^ a b Obituary: Polly Renton, The Times, 10 June 2010
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex
19741997
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Whip of the Conservative Party
1989–1990
Succeeded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
1989–1990
Preceded by Minister of State for the Arts
1990–1992
Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Renton of Mount Harry
Followed by