Sir Ross Frederick Cranston (born 23 July 1948) is a professor of Law at

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

and a retired High Court judge. He is also a former

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all ...

politician, and served as the

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 ...

for

Dudley North Dudley North may refer to: *Dudley North, 3rd Baron North (1581–1666), English nobleman and politician *Dudley North, 4th Baron North (1602–1677), English nobleman and politician, son of the above *Sir Dudley North (economist) (1641&ndas ...

between 1997 and 2005.

Early life

Cranston was born in Australia, and attended Wavell State High School in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Queensland. He was later a student at the University of Queensland where he was awarded a BA in 1969 and LLB in 1970. From

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

, he gained LLM in 1973. From

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, he was awarded

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1976 and DCL in 1998. He became a barrister of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

in 1976. Cranston was a professor at

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

from 1992 to 1997 and the holder of the Cassell chair in commercial law from 1993 to 1997. Before that he held academic posts in the UK and Australia and the Sir John Lubbock chair in banking law at QMW, being a professor of Law at

Queen Mary and Westfield College Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and previously Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of ...

from 1986 to 1991. He was made a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 1998.

Parliamentary career

After contesting

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

in North Yorkshire in 1992, William Hague's seat, coming third, Cranston was elected as the

for

at the next general election in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

with more than half of the votes cast. He served as Solicitor General from 1998 to 2001, when he returned to the back benches. After speculation amongst colleagues, he announced in 2005 that he would not stand for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

again in the 2005 general election. He was succeeded by Ian Austin.

Law career

Cranston was the Centennial Professor of Law at the LSE from 2005 to 2007, and returned as a professor of law from 2017. Appointed as a High Court judge in October 2007, he was assigned to the Queen's Bench Division. Marcel Berlins wrote in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' at the time that Cranston's appointment was unusual among judicial appointments in recent years, given that it occurred so soon after the end of his political career. Cranston retired with effect from 16 March 2017.

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Ross Cranston MP

TheyWorkForYou.com – Ross Cranston MP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cranston, Ross 1948 births Living people Harvard Law School alumni Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Brisbane Members of Gray's Inn Queen's Bench Division judges Solicitors General for England and Wales University of Queensland alumni UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Australian emigrants to England Fellows of the British Academy