The Lord Taverne | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2018 | |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 13 October 1969 – 19 June 1970 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Harold Lever |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Jenkin |
| Minister of State for the Treasury | |
| In office 6 April 1968 – 13 October 1969 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Bill Rodgers |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department | |
| In office 6 April 1966 – 6 April 1968 | |
| Prime Minister | Harold Wilson |
| Preceded by | George Thomas |
| Succeeded by | Elystan Morgan |
| Member of theHouse of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 5 February 1996 – 7 March 2025 Life Peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forLincoln | |
| In office 8 March 1962 – 20 September 1974 | |
| Preceded by | Geoffrey de Freitas |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Jackson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1928-10-18)18 October 1928 |
| Died | 25 October 2025(2025-10-25) (aged 97) London, England |
| Political party | Labour (until 1972) Democratic Labour (1972–80) SDP (1981–88) Liberal Democrats (1988–2025) |
| Children | 2, includingSuzanna |
| Alma mater | Balliol College,Oxford |
Dick Taverne, Baron Taverne,KC (18 October 1928 – 25 October 2025) was a British politician andlife peer who served asMember of Parliament (MP) forLincoln from 1962 to 1974.[1] A member of theLiberal Democrats, he was aLabour MP until his deselection in 1972,[2] following which he resigned his seat and won the subsequentby-election in 1973 as aDemocratic Labour candidate.[3]
Taverne's 1973 victory in Lincoln was short-lived; despite retaining his seat at theFebruary 1974 general election, Labour regained the seat at theOctober 1974 general election, by the future cabinet ministerMargaret Beckett. However, his success opened the possibility of a realignment on the left of British politics, which took shape in 1981 as theSocial Democratic Party (SDP), which Taverne joined. He later joined theLiberal Democrats when the SDP merged with theLiberal Party. Taverne sat as a Liberal Democratlife peer in theHouse of Lords from 1996 until 2025.
Taverne was born inSumatra on 18 October 1928, and was a Dutch national by birth; he was naturalised as British at age 21.[4] Educated atCharterhouse School, and thenBalliol College, Oxford,[4] he graduated in Philosophy and Ancient History, qualified as a barrister in 1954[5] and became aQueen's Counsel (QC) in 1965.[6]
Taverne unsuccessfully contestedPutney as theLabour Party candidate at the1959 general election,[7] and was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) forLincoln at aby-election in March 1962.[7]UnderHarold Wilson's premiership in the 1960s, he served as a Home Office Minister from 1966 to 1968, Minister of State at the Treasury from 1968 to 1969 and then asFinancial Secretary to the Treasury from 1969 to 1970.[4][8] In 1970, he helped to launch theInstitute for Fiscal Studies, now an influential independent think tank and was the first Director, later chairman.[9]
In 1972, Taverne wasdeselected by the LincolnConstituency Labour Party,[3][10][11] who disagreed with his pro-European Economic Community views. He then resigned from the Labour Party and fromParliament, and formed theLincoln Democratic Labour Association. He was re-elected as an Independent Democratic Labour candidate at aby-election in March 1973,[12] and held the seat at theFebruary 1974 general election.[4]
Taverne lost his seat in Parliament at theOctober 1974 general election,[6] but he continued to remain active with the Democratic Labour Association. He was a leadingsocial democratic thinker,[8] publishingThe Future of the Left: Lincoln and After in 1974.[13]
When theSocial Democratic Party (SDP) was formed in the early 1980s, he joined them, serving on their national committee from 1981 until 1987. He stood as an SDP candidate in the1982 Peckham by-election, coming second with 32% of the vote,[14] and in the1983 general election, he stood inDulwich, coming third.[15] When the SDP merged with theLiberal Party he joined the newLiberal Democrats, serving on its Federal Policy Committee from 1989 until 1990.[15] On 5 February 1996 he was created alife peer asBaron Taverne,ofPimlico in theCity of Westminster,[16] and sat in theHouse of Lords as a Liberal Democrat. In May 2006 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Liberal Democrats in local elections toWestminster City Council in the Marylebone High Street ward.[17]
Taverne was elected President of theResearch Defence Society in 2004.[18] He was a member of theHouse of Lords Committee on the Use of Animals in Scientific Procedures, and was also a member of theScience and Technology Committee of the House of Lords.[18]
In 1955, Taverne married Janice Hennessey, a microbiologist.[4] He had two daughters, one of whom is former investment bankerSuzanna.[19][20] He became interested in science and public policy, and in 2002 foundedSense about Science, a charity with the objective of advancing public understanding of science and the evidence-based approach to scientific issues.[21][4]
Taverne was an Honorary Associate of theNational Secular Society[22] and a Distinguished Supporter ofHumanists UK, as well as a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group.[23] He was also a member of the Steering Committee of theBilderberg Group.[24] Taverne won the Science Writers' Award as Parliamentary Science Communicator of the Year 2005.[25] He was a listed member ofRepublic, the campaign forabolishing themonarchy.[8]
On 15 September 2010, Taverne, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published inThe Guardian, stating their opposition toPope Benedict XVI's state visit to the UK.[26]
Taverne was interviewed in 2012 as part ofThe History of Parliament's oral history project.[27][28]
He was the author ofThe March of Unreason, published byOxford University Press in May 2005.[29] It won him theAssociation of British Science Writers' award as parliamentary communicator of the year.[4][30] In 2014, Taverne published his memoir,Against the Tide.
Taverne died at his home in London, on 25 October 2025, at the age of 97.[4][15]Andrew Copson wrote of Taverne that "His legacy lies not only in the causes he advanced but the manner in which he did so: calm, rigorous, and humane. He showed how a humanist outlook can anchor an ethical and courageous public life."[31]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLincoln 1962 –Oct 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Financial Secretary to the Treasury 1969–1970 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
