Ronald Cyril Fearn, Baron Fearn, (6 February 1931 – 24 January 2022) was a British

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 ...

politician. He was born and died in

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

Early life

Fearn was born in 1931 in

, the son of James (a master decorator) and Martha Ellen ( Hodge) Fearn. His birth was registered without his middle name in the Ormskirk registration district of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Southport is now part of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

. Educated at King George V Grammar School, Southport, Fearn was a banker by profession, becoming a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. He worked as a banker with Williams Deacons Bank,

Williams & Glyn's Bank Williams & Glyn's Bank Limited was established in London in 1970, when the Royal Bank of Scotland merged its two subsidiaries in England and Wales, Williams Deacon's Bank Ltd. and Glyn, Mills & Co. In 1985, Williams & Glyn's was fully absorbed ...

, and later the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

Political career

Fearn was the Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP for

from 1987 to 1992 and 1997 to 2001, after unsuccessfully contesting the seat at the four 1970s general elections. He was the Lib. Dem. spokesman on health and tourism (1988–89), on local government (1989–90), and on transport, housing and tourism (1990–92). In

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, he was a member of the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport from 1997 to 2001. Fearn served from 1974 until 2016 as a Sefton Metropolitan Borough councillor, having been a member of its predecessor body,

Merseyside County Council Merseyside County Council (MCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England. MCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974 by the Local Gov ...

. He thus achieved over 50 years of continuous service, being first elected as a Liberal and then for its successor party, the Liberal Democrats. Fearn first contested the borough at the inaugural elections of 1973 as a candidate for the Southport ward of Craven-Sussex-Talbot, in which he topped the poll, receiving more votes than the two other Liberal candidates elected alongside him. In 1982, Fearn was elected as a Liberal-SDP candidate for the Norwood ward, again topping the poll. In 1990, he was elected for the Social and Liberal Democrats, and four years later, as a Liberal Democrat: the latter party had succeeded those he had previously represented. At every single Sefton election he contested, Fearn was top of the results, including those in which multiple candidates were elected. He received a

life peerage 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 ...

and joined 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 Baron Fearn, of

in the County of

, in 2001. He retired from the House on 11 July 2018.

Honours

In the 1985 Birthday Honours, Fearn 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).

Personal life

In 1955, Fearn married Joyce Edna Dugan; they had a son, Martin, and a daughter. Martin became a mathematics teacher at Cowley International College, St. Helens. Outside of politics, Fearn listed his recreations as badminton,

amateur dramatics Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

and athletics. He lived in

. Fearn died in Southport on 24 January 2022, at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearn, Ronnie 1931 births 2022 deaths Councillors in Merseyside Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King George V College UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1997–2001 Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014