Robert Adam Ross Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, (26 June 1936 – 18 January 2020) was a British

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politician and life peer. He was the last leader 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 Fo ...

(SDP), serving during the negotiations that led to its merger with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in 1988. He then became joint interim leader of the new party, known as the Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD) and later as the Liberal Democrats. He served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) from 1966 to 2001, when he was elevated to the House of Lords.

Early life

MacLennan's father, Sir Hector MacLennan, was a renowned gynaecologist and obstetrician. His mother, Isabel Margaret (née Adam), was a physician and public health activist. He was the brother of actor and director David MacLennan, actress and writer

Elizabeth MacLennan Elizabeth Margaret Ross MacLennan (16 March 1938 – 23 June 2015) was a Scottish actress, writer and radical popular theatre practitioner. Early life Elizabeth MacLennan was born in Glasgow, Scotland, daughter of Sir Hector MacLennan and Is ...

, and Kenneth MacLennan. He was educated at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent ...

; Balliol College, Oxford;

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

; and

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. He was called to the bar in 1962 at

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and before entering parliament practised as an international lawyer based in London.

In Parliament

He became

(MP) for the constituency of

Caithness and Sutherland Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency was c ...

in 1966, and serving until 1997; and for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross after boundary changes, from 1997 to 2001. He was first elected as a member of the Labour Party and served as a junior minister in the Labour government of 1974–1979, but in 1981 defected to become a founder member of the SDP. He was one of the few SDP MPs to keep their seats in the 1983 general election. After his stint as SDP Leader in 1988, he served as a front bench spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, and as their president from 1994 until 1998. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1997. After his retirement at the 2001 general election, he was raised to the House of Lords, created a life peer as Baron Maclennan of Rogart, ''of Rogart in Sutherland''. He was the party's Cabinet Office and

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spokesman in the

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until 2015.

Personal life and death

Maclennan married Helen Noyes ( née Cutter), an American teacher, in 1968, and they had two children, a son and a daughter in addition to a son from her previous marriage. Maclennan died on 16 January 2020, at age 83.

References

External links

*
Lord Maclennan of Rogart
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclennan, Bob, Baron 1936 births 2020 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Leaders of the Liberal Democrats (UK) Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Members of the Fabian Society Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at the Glasgow Academy Politicians from Glasgow Presidents of the Liberal Democrats (UK) Scottish Labour MPs Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Life peers created by Elizabeth II