Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill, QC (3 July 1936 – 8 August 2020) was a British barrister and member of the House of Lords. He was at different times a member of the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Democrats. Lester was best known for his influence on race relations legislation in the United Kingdom 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 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 pregnan ...

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. Lester resigned from the House of Lords 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 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 , special ...

. 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 King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, 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 i ...

, 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 ...

at Lincoln's Inn 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 ...

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 barrister 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 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 Campaign Against Racial Discrimination (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, 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 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 from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

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. Lester was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

Family Planning Association

Lester was a patron of the

, previously called the National Birth Control Committee.

Peerage

Lester's peerage was announced on 13 August 1993. He was raised to the peerage 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 borough ...

in the London Borough of Southwark on 13 October 1993. Until a sexual harassment complaint was made in February 2018 Lester sat as a Liberal Democrat. 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 ...

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 centrism, centrist, Pro-Europeanism, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, shortly after all its Member of Parliame ...

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 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