| Eric Lubbock 4th Baron Avebury |
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Lord Avebury on the terrace of the Palace of Westminster |
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| Born | Eric Reginald Lubbock 29 September 1928 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Upper Canada College Harrow School Balliol College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Title | 4th Baron Avebury |
| Predecessor | 3rd Baron Avebury |
| Political party | Liberal Liberal Democrat |
| Religion | Buddhist |
| Spouse | Kina-Maria (née O'Kelly de Gallagh) Lindsay (née Stewart) |
| Children | 4 |
Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, PC (born 29 September 1928) is an English politician. A Liberal Member of Parliament from 1962 to 1970, he succeeded as Baron Avebury in 1971. In 1999, when the House of Lords was reformed, he was elected as a Liberal Democrat representative peer.
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A descendant of William Lubbock (1701–54), he is the son of the Honourable Maurice Fox Pitt Lubbock (the sixth son of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury) and the Honourable Mary Katherine Adelaide Stanley, daughter of Arthur Lyulph Stanley, 5th Baron Sheffield and Stanley of Alderley. His cousin John Lubbock, 3rd Baron Avebury died without a male heir in 1971, and Lubbock succeeded him.
He was educated at Upper Canada College, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Harrow School and he read Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford.
He served as a Lieutenant in the Welsh 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.[1] This was a swing of nearly 22% from the Conservatives and brought the number of Liberal MPs to seven.[1] Following his victory, he was dubbed "Orpington Man".[1]
Many commentators speculated that the Liberals would make a substantial breakthrough at the following general election and this by-election was widely seen as the start of a Liberal revival and a possible return to government, or at least a return to the opposition.[2]
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 by Jo 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
Lubbock is a grandson of John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury and the following year upon the death of his cousin he succeeded to the peerage, 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 an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. He frequently raises matters related to British 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.
He is also President of the Peru Support Group, and advocates on human rights issues in Peru.
In 2009, Lord Avebury was awarded (with Dr Evan Harris MP) the National Secular Society's Secularist of the Year Award in recognition of his role in the abolition of the common law offence of Blasphemous Libel.
On 15 September 2010, Lubbock, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in The Guardian, stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.[3]
He has married twice:
Today Lord Avebury lives in Camberwell, London. His Liberal Democrat party profile notes that he cycles to the House of Lords from Camberwell in 17 minutes. He is a Buddhist.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Donald Sumner |
Member of Parliament for Orpington 1962–1970 |
Succeeded by Ivor Stanbrook |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Arthur Holt |
Liberal Chief Whip 1963–1970 |
Succeeded by David Steel |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by John Lubbock |
Baron Avebury 1971–present |
Incumbent |