Benjamin Russell Mackintosh Stoneham, Baron Stoneham of Droxford (born 26 August 1948)The Lord Stoneham of Droxford
, ''Debrett's People of Today'' is a British peer, journalist, and Liberal Democrat politician. He is currently the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip in the House of Lords, having been elected to that position in October 2016.

Education

He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

(BA, 1970), the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

(MA, 1971) and

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

Political career

Stoneham's early politics were Labour. At the age of 29 he was Labour candidate in the Saffron Walden by-election of 1977. He was later treasurer of the moderate Campaign for Labour Victory, many of whose leading lights later joined the SDP. Stoneham was the SDP candidate for Parliament in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. In 1983, he had the best finish by any non-incumbent SDP candidate in an English seat and narrowly lost by about 1,700 votes. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he stood for election in

Denmead Denmead is a village in Hampshire near Portsmouth, England. It is part of the City of Winchester district. As of 2005, it had a population of 6,457 and an electorate of 4,987. At the 2011 census the population had increased to 6,736. As of 202 ...

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, and in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

he stood for election in

Bishops Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route between ...

. He is a senior party activist for the Liberal Democrat party. From 2003 to 2010, he was operations director of the party, under the leadership of

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 19591 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015. Kennedy wa ...

, and

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

. He was made a

Life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on 17 January 2011 as Baron Stoneham of Droxford, of Meon Valley in the

County of Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, Dorset to the west, and Wiltshi ...

. He gave his maiden speech on 20 January 2011. In October 2016, Lord Stoneham was elected as the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip in the House of Lords, succeeding Lord Newby.

Super-injunction statement

Lord Stoneham came to prominence on 19 May 2011 when used

parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...

to reveal details of a

super-injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

during a debate in the House of Lords. He questioned whether a super-injunction prevented bank regulators from investigating corporate governance at the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

Reprimanded

Lord Stoneham was reprimanded on 27 February 2013 by his own party following reports he telephoned and angrily remonstrated with one of the women who had complained to newspapers about his close friend Lord Rennard's alleged sexual harassment of party workers.

's aides described Lord Stoneham's conduct as "completely unacceptable." Liberal Democrat chief whip in the House of Lords,

Lord Newby Richard Mark Newby, Baron Newby (born 14 February 1953) is a British politician who has been the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords since September 2016. He served as Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords, as ...

gave a warning to Lord Stoneham over his conduct.

Personal life

He is married to Anne Kristine Mackintosh. Lady Stoneham is appointed as Chair of The Board of Trustees of the charity St Christopher’s Fellowship and a member of the Avon Tyrrell Trust. In the

2012 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2012 were announced on 31 December 2011 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand,Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE), for services to young people.

External links

"Lord exposes Sir Fred Goodwin super-injunction in Parliament"
''The Telegraph'', 19 May 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoneham Of Droxford, Ben Stoneham, Baron Of 1948 births Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Warwick Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Living people People educated at Harrow School Place of birth missing (living people) Social Democratic Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Life peers created by Elizabeth II