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

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 in ...

politician.

Early life

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

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, and graduated with a first-class degree in

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, he was

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 Mid-Sussex from 1974 to 1997. He served as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

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 * Unit ...

and the Home Office, 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 ...

(

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. After 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 singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

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) was a British Conservative politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. Howe was Margaret Thatch ...

and to

John Biffen William John Biffen, Baron Biffen, (3 November 1930 – 14 August 2007), was a British Conservative Party politician. A member of the House of Lords, he was previously a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and served in Margaret Thatcher's ...

, 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. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

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, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

. 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 of Kilkerran. The couple lived in Offham near

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

and had a holiday home on the Hebridean island of

Tiree Tiree (; gd, Tiriodh, ) 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, ...

. Their four surviving children are

Alex Renton Alexander James Torr Renton FRHistS (born 5 March 1961) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of several historical and investigative books including ''Blood Legacy: reckoning with a family's story of slavery'', and ''Stiff ...

, 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 an award-winning British documentary film maker and proponent of ethical journalism, who played an important part in transforming political televis ...

(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