(Charles) Russell Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden (born 30 April 1933) is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

. He was a 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 ...

from 1985 until his retirement in 2018. Sanderson was educated at St. Mary's School, Melrose,

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...

, Bradford Technical College and the Scottish Textile College.

Knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1981, Sanderson was created a

on 5 June 1985 as Baron Sanderson of Bowden, of

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

in the District of

Ettrick and Lauderdale Ettrick and Lauderdale (''Eadaraig agus Srath Labhdair'' in Scottish Gaelic) was one of four local government districts in the Borders region of Scotland as well as a lieutenancy area from 1975 to 1996. History The district was created on 16 ...

and spoke regularly in the

Bowden Bowden may refer to: Places Australia * Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland * Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide * Bowden railway station Canada * Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta England * Bowd ...

in his title is taken from a village in the

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

area of the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

. From 1987 to 1990 Lord Sanderson was a Minister of State in the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

, responsible for housing, agriculture and fisheries. He also served as Chairman of the Conservative Party in Scotland in the early 1990s, and was seen as responsible for removing Michael Forsyth from the Scottish Office and other right-wingers from the Party's Central Office in Scotland. In 2010 he was appointed to lead a review into the future of the Conservative Party in Scotland. This followed the 2010 general election, where despite winning a plurality of seats in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, the Conservatives won only one constituency in Scotland. Lord Sanderson's report recommended an overhaul of leadership, with a separately elected leader to take full responsibility of the party's performance in Scotland. A formal response from the party was expected in early 2011. He retired from the House of Lords on 29 March 2018.

Arms

References

Sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110527052725/http://www.dodonline.co.uk/engine.asp?lev1=4&lev2=38&menu=70&biog=y&id=26549&group=5&Page=Lord%20Sanderson%20of%20Bowden%20%3A%20Political%20Biography * https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldjournal/231/026.htm 1933 births Living people People educated at St Mary's School, Melrose People educated at Glenalmond College Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014 {{Life-peer-stub