Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill

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Anthony Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill

Anthony Paul Lester, Baron Lester of Herne Hill , QC ( July 3, 1936 - August 8, 2020 ) was a British Liberal Democratic politician and a member of the House of Lords .

life and career

He was born into a Jewish family, attended the City of London School, and studied history and law at Trinity College, Cambridge , and Harvard Law School . In the 1960s and 70s he was involved in drafting racial relations legislation in Britain. He chaired the Anti- Racial Campaign subcommittee and was a member of several racial equality organizations such as the Society of Labor Lawyers , Fabian Society , Council of the Institute of Race Relations, British Overseas Socialist Fellowship, and the National Committee for Commonwealth Immigrants . In 1968 he co-founded the Runnymede Trust , a left-wing think tank with journalist Jim Rose . In the 1970s he was an advisor to Roy Jenkins in the Ministry of the Interior and left Labor for the Social Democratic Party with him in 1981 .

In 1993 he was promoted to Life Peer as Baron Lester of Herne Hill , of Herne Hill in the London Borough of Southwark . He works as a barrister and is a member of Blackstone Chambers . He has been an honorary external member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2002 . In 2003 he was accepted into the American Philosophical Society . He was made an Honorary Professor at University College Cork in 2005.

On June 29, 2007, Lord Lester was appointed Advisor to the Attorney General on constitutional reform by Prime Minister Gordon Brown . He is a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights .

Lester is the patron of the Family Planning Association 's former National Birth Control Committee. He represented the FPA in a case in Northern Ireland to introduce more liberal abortion rights in the country.

literature

  • Benjamin W. Heineman: The Politics of the Powerless. A Study of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination. Oxford University Press, London 1972, ISBN 0-19-218178-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary for Anthony Lester
  2. ↑ TheJC.com - Aye! To 150 years of Jewish MPs
  3. ^ Heineman, 157
  4. ^ Member History: Lord Anthony Lester. American Philosophical Society, accessed February 2, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Brown unveils new faces ( Memento from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Lester, Anthony, Baron Lester of Herne Hill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lester, Anthony Paul, Baron Lester of Herne Hill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords
DATE OF BIRTH July 3, 1936
DATE OF DEATH August 8, 2020