Ronald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, (28 May 1932 – 25 August 2020) was a British Conservative Party politician.

Early life

Tim Renton, who rarely used his first name of Ronald, was born in London. He attended

Sunningdale School Sunningdale School is a boys' preparatory independent boarding school of up to 105 pupils, situated in Sunningdale in Berkshire, close to London, England. History The school was founded in 1874 by William Girdlestone, it has of gardens and ...

and then Eton, where he was a

King's Scholar A King's Scholar, abbreviated KS in the United Kingdom, is the recipient of a scholarship from a foundation created by, or under the auspices of, a British monarch. The scholarships are awarded at certain Public school (United Kingdom), public ...

. He was an undergraduate at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

on the Roberts Gawen scholarship, and earned a first-class degree in History.

Parliamentary career

After unsuccessfully contesting Sheffield Park in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, he was

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for Mid-Sussex from 1974 to 1997. He served as a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in both the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

and the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

, and served as Margaret Thatcher's

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

(

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title ...

) between 1989 and 1990. Following Thatcher's resignation in 1990 he served in John Major's government as Minister for the Arts between 1990 and 1992. During this time, he came up with the idea of a National Lottery. This was later adopted as a government policy. He launched National Music Day (UK) with

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

which ran from 1992 until around 1997. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Geoffrey Howe Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon, (20 December 1926 – 9 October 2015), known from 1970 to 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to ...

and to

John Biffen William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, (3 November 1930 – 14 August 2007), was a British Conservative Party politician. He was a member of parliament from 1961 to 1997, and served in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet; he then served in the House of ...

, the Trade Secretary but resigned from that position in 1981 after he refused to support the government on a vote about a retrospective windfall tax on bank profits. After standing down from the Commons at the 1997 General Election, he 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in the 1997 Dissolution Honours; on 9 June 1997 as Baron Renton of Mount Harry, of Offham in the County of East Sussex, and took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He retired from the House on 14 April 2016.

Personal life

In 1960, he married Alice Blanche Helen Fergusson, daughter of

Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet of Kilkerran, (18 September 1904 – 25 October 1973) was a Scottish aristocrat, broadcaster, journalist and historian. Life Fergusson was born in Dailly in Ayrshire on 18 September 1904 the son of Sir Charle ...

of Kilkerran. The couple lived in Offham near

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

and had a holiday home on the Hebridean island of

Tiree Tiree (; , ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and fishing are ...

. Their four surviving children are

Alex Renton Alexander James Torre Renton FRHistS is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of several historical and investigative books, including ''Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class'' (2017) and ''Blood L ...

, a journalist and author,Obituary: Polly Renton
''The Times'', 10 June 2010 Christian Louise, Daniel Charles Antony, an environmentalist, and (Katherine) Chelsea, who is an artist and author. The couple's youngest daughter,

Polly Renton The Honourable Polly Renton, born Penelope Sally Rosita Renton (4 March 1970 – 28 May 2010), was a British Documentary film, documentary Film Maker, film maker and proponent of ethical journalism, who played an important part in transforming pol ...

(Penelope Sally Rosita), a documentary film maker, died in a car accident in 2010. Renton died from cancer at his home in Offham on 25 August 2020, aged 88.

Bibliography

*''The Dangerous Edge'', Hutchinson, 1994, *''Hostage to Fortune'', Arrow, 1998, *''Chief Whip'', Politico's, 2005,

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Renton, Tim 1932 births 2020 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deaths from cancer in England Deputy lieutenants of East Sussex Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Eton College People from Hamsey UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 British expatriates in Canada People educated at Sunningdale School