- Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury
Infobox Person
name = Eric Lubbock
4th Baron Avebury
image_size =
caption = Lord Avebury on the terrace of the Palace of Westminster
birth_name = 'Eric Reginald Lubbock
birth_date = birth date and age|1928|9|29|df=yes
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = flagicon|UK British
other_names =
known_for =
education =Upper Canada College
Harrow School
Balliol College, Oxford
employer =
occupation =Politician
title = 4th Baron Avebury
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor = 3rd Baron Avebury
successor =
party = Liberal
Liberal Democrat
boards =
religion =
spouse = Kina-Maria
(née O'Kelly de Gallagh)
Lindsay (née Stewart)
partner =
children = 4
parents =
relatives =
website =
footnotes =Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, PC (born
29 September 1928 ) is an English politician. A LiberalMember of Parliament from 1962 to 1970, he succeeded asBaron Avebury in 1971. In 1999, when theHouse of Lords was reformed, he was elected as a Liberal Democrat representative peer.Background
A descendant of
William Lubbock (1701–54), he is the son ofthe Honourable Maurice Fox Pitt Lubbock (the sixth son ofJohn Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury ) andthe Honourable Mary Katherine Adelaide Stanley, daughter of Arthur Lyulph Stanley, 5th Baron Sheffield and Stanley of Alderley. His cousinJohn Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury died without a male heir in 1971, and Lubbock succeeded him.Education
He was educated at
Upper Canada College , inToronto, Ontario, Canada ;Harrow School and he read Engineering Science atBalliol College, Oxford .Career
He served as a
Lieutenant in theWelsh Guards and joined Rolls-Royce in 1951. He was employed as a production manager (1951-1956) and as a production engineer (1956-1960).Having joined the Liberal Party in 1960 and become a councillor the following year, Lubbock won a sensational by-election victory at Orpington on
15 March 1962 , with a majority of 7,855. This was a swing of nearly 22% from the Conservatives and brought the number of Liberal MPs to seven.Many commentators speculated that the Liberals would make a substantial breakthrough at the following general election and this by-election was taken as the start of a Liberal revival. However, the party was hampered by organisational difficulties and progress was slow, with a loss of votes and seats under
Harold Wilson ’s Labour government.As the MP for Orpington, he was appointed
Chief Whip byJo Grimond in 1963, a post he held until 1970.When the party leader
Jo Grimond resigned in 1967 Eric Lubbock was one of the three Liberal MPs who stood for the position.Jeremy Thorpe , however, won with six votes to Emlyn Hooson’s and Lubbock’s three apiece.In the Commons he was on the Speaker’s Commission on Electoral Law in 1964-1966, and proposed STV in multi-member constituencies, only to be voted down by 18-1. He also proposed reducing the voting age to 18, on which two Labour Members supported him.
In 1970, Orpington reverted to its Tory origins. On losing the seat Lubbock said:"In 1962 the wise, far-seeing people of Orpington elected me as their Member; in 1970 the fools threw me out".
Lubbock is a grandson of
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury and the following year upon the death of his cousin he succeeded to thepeerage , becoming Lord Avebury. He sat on the Royal Commission on Standards of Conduct in Public Life and in 1976 founded the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, which he chaired for the next 21 years.He is currently a member of the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Team, speaking frequently on conflict resolution and human rights. He was elected to an Honorary Fellowship at
Balliol College in 2004.Lord Avebury is a Distinguished Supporter of the
British Humanist Association . He frequently raises matters related toBritish nationality law in Parliament. He has been a strong supporter of the citizenship rights of the solely British ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, and has fought for their rights.Private life
He has married twice:
# Kina-Maria O'Kelly de Gallagh (2 September 1953 – 1983)
## The Hon. Lyulph Ambrose Jonathan Lubbock (born15 June 1954 ); married Susan MacDonald14 May 1977 , with issue.
## The Hon. Maurice Patrick Guy Lubbock (born5 November 1955 ); married Diana Tobin 1982 with issue.
## The Hon. Victoria Sarah Maria Lubbock (born27 April 1959 ); married Alan Binnie 1983 with issue.
# Lindsay Stewart (1985– )
## The Hon. John William Stewart Lubbock (born8 August 1985 )Today Lord Avebury lives in
Camberwell ,London . His Liberal Democrat party profile notes that he cycles to theHouse of Lords from Camberwell in 17 minutes. He is a Buddhist.External links
* [http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/lord-avebury.html Lord Avebury] profile at the site of the
Liberal Democrats
* [http://www.ericavebury.blogspot.com/ Lord Avebury's personal blog]
* [http://ericavebury.blogspot.com/2006/07/south-china-morning-post-july-4-2006.html On BN(O) minors of Nepalese origin entitled to British citizenship] ,4 July 2006 letter to the "South China Morning Post "
* [http://ericavebury.blogspot.com/2006/09/letter-in-todays-scmp.html Highlighting the plight of Indian ethnic minority BN(O)s in Limbo in Hong Kong] ,25 September 2006 letter to the "South China Morning Post "
* [http://ericavebury.blogspot.com/2006/10/south-china-morning-post.html Criticising the delay in processing of British citizenship applications of Indian-origin ethnic minorities in Hong Kong] ,23 October 2006 letter to the "South China Morning Post "
* [http://ericavebury.blogspot.com/2006/12/scmp-british-citizenship.html On persons of Indian & Nepalese origin born in Hong Kong before 30 June 1979 and 30 June 1976 entitled to British nationality] ,27 November 2006 letter to the "South China Morning Post "
* [http://ericavebury.blogspot.com/2007/02/thursday-february-22-2007-letter-in.html On difficulties facing British nationals of Nepalese origin entitled to British citizenship] ,22 February 2007 letter to the "South China Morning Post "
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