Richard Mark Newby, Baron Newby (born 14 February 1953), known popularly as Dick Newby, is a British politician, who has been the

Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords The Liberal Democrat peers elect the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Until the election of Lord Wallace of Tankerness in October 2013, all previous leaders had been members of the Labour Party who left to form the Social De ...

since September 2016. He served as the Deputy Government Chief Whip in 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 ...

, and the Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 2012 and 2015, and the

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

Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 2012 to 2016.

Early life, education and career

The son of Frank and Kathleen Newby, he was educated at the Rothwell Grammar School in the village of Lofthouse in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, followed by St Catherine's College at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in philosophy, politics and economics in 1974 and was later awarded a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. On leaving university, Newby joined

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

where he became principal in charge of budget coordination in 1980. After the SDP he became director of corporate affairs at Rosehaugh plc, at one time a major property developer. He subsequently became a consultant on corporate social responsibility. Newby worked extensively on programmes which used the power of sport to help motivate and educate children and young people. He was chair of sport at

The Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

(1997–2012), chair of International Development Through Sport (a

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...

charity) and chair of Sport for Life International, of which he remains patron.

Political career

Newby was Secretary of the

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 ...

Parliamentary Committee in 1981, David Owen described him as 'an able young civil servant who resigned to come and work for us', and National Secretary of the SDP from 1983 to 1988. He had parliamentary ambitions seeking the candidacy for Twickenham, challenging Vince Cable, in 1997. From 1999 to 2006, Newby was

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat 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 ...

. He was instrumental in the process of managing the succession of leadership from Kennedy to

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a British Liberal Democrat politician, advocate and former athlete. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife from ...

. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 1990 New Year Honours and was created 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

with the title Baron Newby, of Rothwell in the County of

on 25 September 1997. At the beginning of May 2012, Lord Newby was appointed the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip in the House of Lords, and at the same time was appointed the Deputy Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords and

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK Government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The present Captain is The 9th Earl of Courtown, who was appointed to the position in ...

. In September 2012, he was appointed

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

spokesman in the House of Lords. In September 2016 he was elected

replacing Lord Wallace of Tankerness.

Personal life

Lord Newby has been married since 1978 to Ailsa Ballantyne (''née'' Thomson), a priest and

Canon Residentiary A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, i ...

; they have two sons. According to the House of Lords register of members interests, he jointly owns, with his wife, two flats in Lambeth, London, which are rented out.

References

External links

*
Lord Newby
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats *The They Work For You websit

} , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Newby, Richard 1953 births Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Rothwell, West Yorkshire Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians