Charles William Harley Hay, 16th Earl of Kinnoull (born 20 December 1962), styled Viscount Dupplin until 2013, is a Scottish

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

and

Crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

member of 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 ...

, who serves as Convenor of the Crossbench Peers.

Biography

Viscount Dupplin was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and studied chemistry at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. where he was an open scholar. A qualified

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, called to the Bar in 1990 (Middle Temple) he worked for

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

provider Hiscox for 25 years. He also farms in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

. He has been a member of The Queen's Bodyguard for Scotland (Royal Company of Archers) since 2000. He succeeded his father as Earl of Kinnoull following the latter's death on 7 June 2013. The Earl was elected to sit in the House of Lords at a crossbench hereditary peers' by-election on 4 February 2015, following the resignation of Lady Saltoun of Abernethy. On 19 March 2015, he made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on a report of the Science & Technology Committee. In June 2015 he was appointed to the Select Committee on Social Mobility. In 2016, he served on the Select Committee on the Trade Union Bill. In May 2016 he was appointed to the Select Committee on the European Union and also the Justice Sub-Committee. In September 2019 he became Chair of the European Union Committee, and Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords;. He has served as a Deputy Speaker since becoming Principal Deputy Chairman of Committees. In January 2022 he was appointed Vice Chair of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, the new joint body between the European and UK Parliaments. As such he was the leader of the House of Lords delegation. In June 2017 he was promoted to Lt Col and became commanding officer of the Atholl Highlanders. In January 2018 he was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

. In April 2023, he became Convenor of the Crossbench Peers and as a consequence in June 2023 stepped down as Chair of the European Affairs Committee and as Vice Chair of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. At the same time he was appointed to the

House of Lords Commission The House of Lords Commission is a select committee of the House of Lords which provides strategic and political direction for the House of Lords Administration. Its remit also includes approving the annual Estimate, overseeing financial support ar ...

Family

He is the son of the William Hay, 15th Earl of Kinnoull, and Ann (''née'' Lowson), daughter of Sir Denys Lowson, 1st Baronet. In 2002, he married Clare, daughter of the circuit judge William Hamilton Crawford, QC, and his wife, Marilyn Jean Colville. The couple has four children: *Lady Alice Hay (b. 25 Sep 2003) *Lady Catriona Hay (b. 25 Sep 2003) *Lady Auriol Hay (b. 15 Mar 2007) *William Hay, Viscount Dupplin (b. 24 Jun 2011)

Charity

The earl serves as president of the Royal Caledonian Ball Trust, which organises an annual ball to benefit Scottish charities. He is the chairman of the

Red Squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris''), also called Eurasian red squirrel, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is an arboreal and primarily herbivorous rodent and common throughout Eurasia. Taxonomy There have been ...

Survival Trust, a wildlife conservation trust. He is also the chair of Culture Perth & Kinross, which is a Trust running museums and libraries.

References

External links

Biography at Parliament.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinnoull 1962 births Living people People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Crossbench hereditary peers 16 Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999