William Howard Goodhart, Baron Goodhart, (18 January 1933 – 10 January 2017) was a British

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

politician, a leading

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

and

human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

yer, and a member of 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 ...

Background and early life and career

William Goodhart was the son of

Arthur Lehman Goodhart Arthur Lehman Goodhart (1 March 1891 in New York City – 10 November 1978 in Oxford) was an American-born academic jurist and lawyer; he was Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford, 1931–51, when he was also a Fellow of Un ...

, and the brother of

Charles Goodhart Charles Albert Eric Goodhart, (born 23 October 1936) is a British economist. His career can be divided into two sections: his term with the Bank of England and its associated public policy; and his academic work with the London School of Econom ...

and Sir

Philip Goodhart Sir Philip Carter Goodhart (3 November 1925 – 5 July 2015) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, the son of Arthur Lehman Goodhart. Biography Goodhart attended the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. He co ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, undertook

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

from 1951 to 1953, and graduated with a law degree from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, in 1956, before winning a

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several cou ...

to study law at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1960 and made a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1979. As a barrister he developed a specialist Chancery practice and appeared in a number of notable cases, including in particular (in the

) ''

Street v Mountford is an English land law case from the House of Lords. It set out principles to determine whether someone who occupied a property had a tenancy (i.e. a lease), or only a licence. This mattered for the purpose of statutory tenant rights to a reason ...

''. He also co-wrote (with Gareth Jones) a textbook on the subject of

specific performance Specific performance is an equitable remedy in the law of contract, whereby a court issues an order requiring a party to perform a specific act, such as to complete performance of the contract. It is typically available in the sale of land law, ...

Politics

A member 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 ...

, Goodhart contested the

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

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

constituency of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in both the

1983 The year 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 Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and 1987 general elections. After the SDP merged with the Liberals, he subsequently fought the Kensington by-election of 1988 under the new

Social and Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats (commonly referred to as the Lib Dems) are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. Since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election, they have been the third-largest UK political ...

banner, finishing a weak third. In the 1992 general election he contested the winnable seat of

Oxford West and Abingdon Oxford West and Abingdon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat. History Creation The seat was created in 1983 as part of the reconfiguration of those in the coun ...

, now as a Liberal Democrats candidate. He finished second, in so doing cutting the Conservative majority by over 1,000 votes, to 3,539.

Peerage

He was knighted on 14 February 1989 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 ...

as Baron Goodhart, of Youlbury in the County of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, on 23 October 1997. In the House of Lords, he served as a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats in several capacities, usually relating to legal matters, including as the Liberal Democrats' Shadow

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

. Before the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

he campaigned to reform the Upper House, and later in his career expressed frustration at its undemocratic nature. He retired from the House of Lords on 15 May 2015.

Humanism and ICJ memberships

A devoted

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

, Goodhart was a longtime member of the

All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group All-Party Groups (APGs) within United Kingdom politics are informal, cross-party, interest groups of the UK Parliament. APGs have at least 20 members who are all Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords. The All-Party Parliamentary H ...

, as well as the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

(BHA). He was among a number of parliamentarians who in 2010 called for substantive reforms of public services in Britain following a BHA report into religious influence in public services. From 2007 to 2009, Goodhart was the Chairman of

JUSTICE Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, the UK section of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...

, as well as serving as a Commissioner of the ICJ since 1993. He was elected as vice-president of the ICJ in 2002. He was also an honorary associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

Private life

Goodhart married the Hon. Celia Herbert (born 25 July 1936), eldest daughter of the 2nd Baron Hemingford and younger sister of the 3rd Baron Hemingford, on 21 May 1966. They had three children: Annabel Frances Goodhart (born 22 August 1967; married to James Dallas; three daughters), Laura Christabel Goodhart (born 25 December 1970; married to William Watts; three sons), and Benjamin Herbert Goodhart (born 29 December 1972; partner of Wendy Young; one son).The Guardian: "A vote for Mum and Dad – When Benjie Goodhart was a child, his parents fought – and lost – seven elections. Despite the embarrassment, boredom and tears, he's just so proud of them" by Benjie Goodhart
16 April 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodhart, William Howard 1933 births 2017 deaths English humanists People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Harvard Law School alumni Knights Bachelor Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Social Democratic Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British Jews Lehman family Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates Jewish British politicians English barristers Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014