The Lord Renton of Mount Harry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Renton in Parliament, 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of the House of Lords | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Life peerage 8 June 1997 – 14 April 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forMid Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 28 February 1974 – 8 April 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Constituency established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nicholas Soames | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Ronald Timothy Renton (1932-05-28)28 May 1932 London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 25 August 2020(2020-08-25) (aged 88) Offham,East Sussex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 5, includingAlex andPolly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Eton College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ronald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry,PC, DL (28 May 1932 – 25 August 2020) was a BritishConservative Party politician.
Tim Renton, who rarely used his first name of Ronald, was born in London.[1] He attendedSunningdale School and thenEton, where he was aKing's Scholar. He was an undergraduate atMagdalen College, Oxford on the Roberts Gawen scholarship, and earned a first-class degree in History.[2]
After unsuccessfully contestingSheffield Park in1970, he wasConservativeMember of Parliament forMid-Sussex from 1974 to 1997.
He served as aMinister of State in both theForeign Office and theHome Office, and served asMargaret Thatcher'sChief Whip (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury) between 1989 and 1990. Following Thatcher's resignation in 1990 he served inJohn Major's government asMinister for the Arts between 1990 and 1992. During this time, he came up with the idea of aNational Lottery.[3][4] This was later adopted as a government policy.[5] He launchedNational Music Day (UK) withMick Jagger which ran from 1992 until around 1997.[6][7] He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary toGeoffrey Howe and toJohn 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 the1997 General Election, he was created alife peer in the1997 Dissolution Honours;[8] on 9 June 1997 asBaron Renton of Mount Harry, ofOffham in theCounty of East Sussex,[9][10] and took his seat in theHouse of Lords. He retired from the House on 14 April 2016.[11]
In 1960, he married Alice Blanche Helen Fergusson, daughter ofSir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet of Kilkerran. The couple lived inOffham nearLewes inEast Sussex and had a holiday home on theHebridean island ofTiree.[citation needed]
Their four surviving children areAlex Renton, a journalist and author,[12] 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.[12]
Renton died from cancer at his home in Offham on 25 August 2020, aged 88.[13][14]
As Arts Minister Mr Renton strove for 18 months to persuade the Treasury that a national lottery would be a good thing.
As the 1992 election neared, Renton secured a manifesto commitment to set up a National Lottery
John Major also established the National Lottery as a personal initiative which has provided billions of pounds for good causes.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| New constituency | Member of Parliament forMid Sussex 1974–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief Whip of the Conservative Party 1989–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 1989–1990 | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of State for the Arts 1990–1992 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
