Leopold David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke, (born 14 September 1938) is a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

and member of the House of Lords.

Early life

Leopold David Verney was born on 14 September 1938. The only son of

John Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke Air Commodore John Henry Peyto Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke, MC, AFC (21 May 1896, London – 25 May 1986) was a British peer. Background and education The son of Richard Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke, and Marie Frances Lis ...

and Rachel Wrey, Verney was educated at

Le Rosey Institut Le Rosey (), commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. Founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey in the town of Rolle in the cant ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

where he studied modern languages ( BA, then

Oxbridge MA In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts are promoted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts (MA) on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university (including years as an un ...

Career

He inherited his father's title in 1986 and is one of the 90

s elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999; originally elected a Conservative

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a net ...

, he defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in January 2007, making him one of only four UKIP members at Westminster. Since 1992, he has been Chairman of the St Martin's Theatre Company Ltd. - the building of the

St Martin's Theatre St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in t ...

was commissioned by his grandfather. From 1999 to 2004, he was President of the Heart of England Tourist Board. From 1990 to 2004, Willoughby de Broke was Patron of the Warwickshire Association of Boys' Clubs and from 2005 to the present has been Chairman of the

Warwickshire Hunt The Warwickshire Hunt is an English fox hunting pack founded in 1791. History The hunt was founded in 1791 by John Corbet of Sundorne, near Shrewsbury. John Corbet established the Hunt Club at the White Lion Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon, where once ...

. 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 The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA) and of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

(FRGS). On 19 November 2009, Willoughby de Broke introduced the

Constitutional Reform Bill 2009-10 A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

into the House of Lords, with clauses to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and the

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...

, to reduce the powers of the House of Commons and government, to reduce MPs' pay, and to give more power to local authorities. 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. He left UKIP in the autumn of 2018.

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 one-time Deputy Prime Minister Rab Butler. He has two sons by his first marriage, Rupert and John Verney, and two stepdaughters. The heir apparent to the title is his elder son, the Hon Rupert Greville Verney (born 1966).

References

External links

www.dodonline.co.uk''Debrett's People of Today''paternal ancestrymaternal ancestry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby de Broke, David Verney, 21st Baron 1938 births Living people Alumni of Institut Le Rosey Alumni of New College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act Deputy Lieutenants of Warwickshire UK Independence Party hereditary peers David 21