Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC (3 July 1936 – 8 August 2020) was a British

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. He was at different times a member of the Labour Party,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

and the Liberal Democrats. Lester was best known for his influence on

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in the ...

legislation in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and as a founder-member of groups such as the

Institute of Race Relations The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a think tank based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1958 in order to publish research on race relations worldwide, and in 1972 was transformed into an "anti-racist think tank". Proposed by ''Sund ...

, the

Campaign Against Racial Discrimination The Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (CARD) was a British organization, founded in 1964 and which lasted until 1967, that lobbied for race relations legislation. The group's formation was inspired by a visit by Martin Luther King Jr. to Londo ...

and the

Runnymede Trust The Runnymede Trust is a race equality think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1968 by Jim Rose and Anthony Lester as an independent source for generating intelligence for a multi-ethnic Britain through research, network building, ...

. Lester was also a prominent figure in promoting

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

through the

Family Planning Association FPA (Family Planning Association) was a UK registered charity (number 250187) working to enable people to make informed choices about sex and to enjoy sexual health. It was the national affiliate for the International Planned Parenthood Federat ...

, particularly in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Lester resigned from the

after accusations of historic sexual harassment were made by

Jasvinder Sanghera Jasvinder Sanghera, (born Derby, England September 1965) is a British author, campaigner against forced marriages and abuse. Biography Her memoir ''Shame'' was a Times Top 10 Bestseller and described in the House of Lords as a "political weap ...

Early life and education

Lester was born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family and was educated at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

. He then studied history and law at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, graduating with Bachelor of Arts and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degrees respectively.

Legal career

Lester was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1963 and

took silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1975. In 1987, he was appointed as a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

and was in office until 1993. As a

he worked from 2 Hare Court, latterly named

Blackstone Chambers Blackstone Chambers is a set of barristers' chambers in the Temple district of central London. Established in the 1950s, as of 2022 it had 119 tenants, of whom more than 50 are silks. Current notable members include Robert Anderson, Michael Be ...

. He was appointed adjunct professor of the Faculty of Law at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

in 2005.

Race relations

In the 1960s and 1970s, Lester was directly involved with the drafting of race relations legislation in Britain. During these periods, he acted as the chair of the legal subcommittee of the

(C.A.R.D.) and was a member of several organisations working for

racial equality Racial equality is a situation in which people of all races and ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and political rights. In present-day Western society, ...

such as the Society of Labour Lawyers,

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

, Council of the Institute of Race Relations, British Overseas Socialist Fellowship and the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants. In 1968, he co-founded the

think-tank with Jim Rose. He was chairman of the Runnymede Trust from 1991 to 1993.

Special adviser

Lester was a special adviser to

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

at the Home Office in the 1970s, and moved with Jenkins from the Labour Party to found the SDP in 1981. On 29 June 2007, Lester was appointed by

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

as a special adviser on

constitutional reform A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...

to the

Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice, also referred to as the justice secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the Un ...

. Lester was a member of the

Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom. Membership As at November 2022, the members of the committee a ...

Family Planning Association

Lester was a patron of the

, previously called the National Birth Control Committee.

Peerage

Lester's

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Belgi ...

was announced on 13 August 1993. He was raised to the

as Baron Lester of Herne Hill, of

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs ...

in the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

on 13 October 1993. Until a sexual harassment complaint was made in February 2018 Lester sat as a

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

. On 12 November 2018, the House of Lords

Committee for Privileges and Conduct The Committee for Privileges and Conduct was a select committee of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom which considered issues relating to the privileges of the House of Lords and its members, as well as having oversight fo ...

made a recommendation that he be suspended from the House of Lords until June 2022 as a result of a complaint of sexual harassment from

. On 15 November 2018, by a vote of 101–78, the House of Lords referred the matter back to the Committee for Privileges and Conduct on the ground that the Commissioner for Standards had failed to act in accordance with the principles of natural justice and fairness. After the matter was remitted to the Committee, the Senior Deputy Speaker (the Chairman of the Committee) expressed his disappointment at the decision of the House, saying that the Commissioner had "followed the processes as agreed by the House and that have not been questioned before today." The report of the Commissioner for Standards had responded to various criticisms of the fairness of the process. Lester resigned from the House of Lords on 12 December 2018. He said that he lacked the strength or health to continue, after the Committee disagreed with the House's conclusion regarding the fairness of the process and renewed the recommendation of his suspension until June 2022. Notwithstanding his retirement, the House subsequently confirmed the Committee's recommendation. In April 2019, he joined

The Independent Group The Independent Group for Change, also known as Change UK, was a British centrist, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, shortly after all its MPs lost their seats in the 2019 general e ...

Honours

Lester was elected an international member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2003.

Personal life

Lord Lester of Herne Hill is the father of

Gideon Lester Gideon Lester (born 1972) is a Tony Award-winning artistic director, dramaturg, curator, and creative producer. He is currently Artistic Director of the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Senior Curator of the OSUN C ...

and of Maya Lester KC. Lester died on 8 August 2020, at the age of 84.

References

External links

Odysseus Trust
– supporting the work of Anthony Lester in the House of Lords {{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Anthony Paul 1936 births 2020 deaths English King's Counsel English barristers English Jews Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Lester of Herne Hill People educated at the City of London School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Harkness Fellows Harvard Law School alumni Jewish British politicians Chairs of the Fabian Society Treasurers of the Fabian Society Change UK politicians Members of the American Philosophical Society