Tim Renton

Ronald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry, PC, DL (28 May 1932 – 25 August 2020) was a British Conservative Party politician.

The Right Honourable The Lord Renton of Mount Harry PC DL
Renton in Parliament, July 2013
Ministerial offices Minister of State for the Arts In office 28 November 1990 – 11 April 1992 Prime Minister John Major Preceded by David Mellor Succeeded by David Mellor (as Secretary of State for National Heritage) Chief Whip of the House of Commons Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury In office 24 July 1989 – 28 November 1990 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Preceded by David Waddington Succeeded by Richard Ryder Minister of State for Immigration In office 13 June 1987 – 25 July 1989 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Preceded by David Waddington Succeeded by Peter Lloyd Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs In office 2 September 1985 – 13 June 1987 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Preceded by Richard Luce Succeeded by David Mellor Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs In office 11 September 1984 – 1 September 1985 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Preceded by Ray Whitney Succeeded by Tim Eggar
Parliamentary seats Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal In office 8 June 1997 – 14 April 2016 Life Peerage Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex In office 28 February 1974 – 8 April 1997 Preceded by Constituency Created Succeeded by Nicholas Soames
Personal details
Born	28 May 1932
Died	25 August 2020 (aged 88)
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Alice Fergusson ​ (m. 1960)​
Children	5, including Alex and Polly
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford

Early life

Tim Renton, who rarely used his first name of Ronald, won scholarships to Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and graduated with a first-class degree in History.

Parliamentary career

After unsuccessfully contesting Sheffield Park in 1970, he was Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid-Sussex from 1974 to 1997.

He served as a Minister of State in both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, and served as Margaret Thatcher's Chief Whip (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury) between 1989 and 1990. After Thatcher's resignation in 1990 he served in John Major's government as Minister for the Arts between 1990 and 1992. During this time, he came up with the idea of a National Lottery.[1][2] This was later adopted as a government policy.[3] He launched National Music Day (UK) with Mick Jagger which ran from 1992 until around 1997.[4][5] He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Geoffrey Howe and to John Biffen, the Trade Secretary but resigned from that position in 1981 after he refused to support the government on a vote about a retrospective windfall tax on bank profits.

After standing down from the Commons at the 1997 General Election, he was created a life peer in the 1997 Dissolution Honours;[6] on 9 June 1997 as Baron Renton of Mount Harry, of Offham in the County of East Sussex,[7][8] and took his seat in the House of Lords. He retired from the House on 14 April 2016.[9]

Personal life

In 1960, he married Alice Blanche Helen Fergusson, daughter of Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet of Kilkerran. The couple lived in Offham near Lewes in East Sussex and had a holiday home on the Hebridean island of Tiree.

Their four surviving children are Alex Renton, a journalist and author,[10] Christian Louise, Daniel Charles Antony, an environmentalist, and (Katherine) Chelsea, who is an artist and author. The couple's youngest daughter, Polly Renton (Penelope Sally Rosita), a documentary film maker, died in a car accident in 2010.[10]

Renton died on 25 August 2020, at the age of 88.[11]

Bibliography

• The Dangerous Edge, Hutchinson, 1994, ISBN 0-09-179151-0
• Hostage to Fortune, Arrow, 1998, ISBN 0-09-946831-X
• Chief Whip, Politico's, 2005, ISBN 1-84275-129-8

References

1. "Calls for inquiry into Telemillion". The Independent. 13 February 1994. As Arts Minister Mr Renton strove for 18 months to persuade the Treasury that a national lottery would be a good thing.
2. Obituaries, Telegraph (27 August 2020). "Lord Renton of Mount Harry, Conservative foreign office minister and Chief Whip – obituary". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2020. As the 1992 election neared, Renton secured a manifesto commitment to set up a National Lottery
3. "John Major". www.number10.gov.uk. HM Government. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2013. John Major also established the National Lottery as a personal initiative which has provided billions of pounds for good causes.
4. "The List: 19 Jun 1992". The List Archive. 19 June 1992. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
5. "Joining in: Investigation into Participatory Music in the UK - PDF Free Download". epdf.pub. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
6. "No. 54743". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 April 1997. p. 4708.
7. "No. 54791". The London Gazette. 12 June 1997. p. 6845.
8. "No. 24212". The Edinburgh Gazette. 17 June 1997. p. 1485.
9. "Parliamentary career for Lord Renton of Mount Harry - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
10. Obituary: Polly Renton, The Times, 10 June 2010
11. McCock, Angusina (26 August 2020). "Renton". The Telegraph Announcements. The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2020.