The Lord Alexander of Weedon | |
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 Alexander in March 1978 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1936-09-05)5 September 1936 |
| Died | 6 November 2005(2005-11-06) (aged 69) |
| Occupation | Barrister,Chancellor of theUniversity of Exeter |
Robert Scott Alexander, Baron Alexander of Weedon (5 September 1936 – 6 November 2005) was a Britishbarrister, banker andConservative politician.
He was educated atBrighton College (of which he was later President) andKing's College, Cambridge.
He wascalled to the Bar at theMiddle Temple in 1961. An early case of note was his successful defence of DrCaroline Deys before theGeneral Medical Council in 1972.[3][4] Alexander was one of the leading barristers of his generation and served as Chairman of theBar Council 1985–86. As a barrister he came to greater public fame representingLord Archer in his libel case against theDaily Star in 1987.
He retired from the Bar in 1989, and served as Chairman ofNational Westminster Bank from 1989 to 1999. He was also a director of other companies, a member of the Government's Panel onSustainable Development and Chairman of theRoyal Shakespeare Company from 2000 until ill-health forced him to retire in 2004. He served theMCC as its president and chairman. He was chancellor of theUniversity of Exeter from 1998 to 2005. He was also the chair ofJUSTICE, the human rights and law reform group, from 1990 to 2005 and served on theWakeham Commission's report into the reform of theHouse of Lords. He was Treasurer of Middle Temple in 2001.
When offered a peerage, Alexander requested that he be "ofWeedon," a very small village inBuckinghamshire, just north ofAylesbury, where he had lived for some years with his third wife, Marie, at Weedon Lodge. He and his family were hosts to the annual Weedon Jazz evening for several years, used to raise money for the village. Alexander was created alife peer asBaron Alexander of Weedon, ofNewcastle-under-Lyme in the County ofStaffordshire, on 11 July 1988.[5] He sat on the Conservative Party benches.
He was married three times and died from astroke in 2005, aged 69.
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| Preceded by SirRex Richards | Chancellor of the University of Exeter 1998–2005 | Succeeded by |
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