Richard Mark Newby, Baron Newby (born 14 February 1953) is a British politician who has been the

leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords The Liberal Democrat peers elect the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Until the election of Lord Wallace of Tankerness in October 2013, all previous leaders had been members of the Labour Party who left to form the Social ...

since September 2016. He served as Government Deputy Chief Whip in 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 ...

, as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard between 2012 and 2015, as and

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 2012 to 2016.

Early life, education and career

Newby was born in February 1953, the son of Frank and Kathleen Newby. He was educated at the Rothwell Grammar School in the village of Lofthouse in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, followed by St Catherine's College at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

philosophy, politics and economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

in 1974 and was later awarded a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree. On leaving university, Newby joined

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

where he became principal in charge of budget coordination in 1980. He was then director of corporate affairs at Rosehaugh plc, at one time a major property developer. He subsequently became a consultant on corporate social responsibility. Newby worked extensively on programmes which used the power of sport to help motivate and educate children and young people. He was chair of sport at

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

(1997–2012), chair of International Development Through Sport (a

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing money sourced from the National Lottery and the government, into Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the D ...

charity) and chair of Sport for Life International, of which he remains patron.

Political career

Newby was Secretary 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 Form ...

Parliamentary Committee in 1981, David Owen described him as 'an able young civil servant who resigned to come and work for us', and National Secretary of the SDP from 1983 to 1988. He had parliamentary ambitions, seeking the candidacy for

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, challenging

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency), Twic ...

, in 1997. From 1999 to 2006, Newby was

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 19591 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015. Kennedy wa ...

. He was instrumental in the process of managing the succession of leadership from Kennedy to

Menzies Campbell Walter Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem, (; born 22 May 1941), often known as Ming Campbell, is a Scottish politician, advocate and former athlete. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for North ...

. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

1990 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1990 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

and 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baron Newby, of Rothwell in the County of

on 25 September 1997. At the beginning of May 2012, Lord Newby was appointed the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip in the House of Lords, and at the same time was appointed the Deputy Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords and

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government post usually held by the Government Whip (politics), Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The present Captain is Margaret Whe ...

. In September 2012, he was appointed

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

spokesman in the House of Lords. In September 2016 he was elected

Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords The Liberal Democrat peers elect the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. Until the election of Lord Wallace of Tankerness in October 2013, all previous leaders had been members of the Labour Party who left to form the Social ...

, replacing Lord Wallace of Tankerness.

Personal life

Lord Newby has been married since 1978 to Ailsa Ballantyne (''née'' Thomson), a priest and

Canon Residentiary Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, ...

; they have two sons. According to the House of Lords register of members' interests, he jointly owns, with his wife, two flats in Lambeth, London, which are rented out.

References

External links

*
Lord Newby
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats *The They Work For You websit

} , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Newby, Richard 1953 births 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century British civil servants 21st-century English politicians Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Rothwell, West Yorkshire Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians