View source for Tim Renton

{{Short description|British Conservative politician (1932–2020)}}
{{Other people|Lord Renton|Baron Renton (disambiguation){{!}}Baron Renton}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Renton of Mount Harry
| honorific-suffix    = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|DL}}
| image               = Lord Renton of Mount Harry 2013.jpg
| caption             = Renton in Parliament, 2013
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|div=yes|Ministerial offices 1984–1992}}
| office              = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts|Minister of State for the Arts]]
| primeminister       = [[John Major]]
| term_start          = 28 November 1990
| term_end            = 11 April 1992
| predecessor         = [[David Mellor]]
| successor           = [[David Mellor]] (as [[Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport|Secretary of State for National Heritage]])
| office1             = {{ubl|[[Government Chief Whip]] in the [[House of Commons]]|[[Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury]]}}
| primeminister1      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start1         = 24 July 1989
| term_end1           = 28 November 1990
| predecessor1        = [[David Waddington]]
| successor1          = [[Richard Ryder, Baron Ryder of Wensum|Richard Ryder]]
| office2             = [[Minister of State for Immigration]]
| primeminister2      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start2         = 13 June 1987
| term_end2           = 25 July 1989
| predecessor2        = [[David Waddington]]
| successor2          = [[Peter Lloyd (politician)|Peter Lloyd]]
| office3             = [[Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (United Kingdom)|Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]
| primeminister3      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start3         = 2 September 1985
| term_end3           = 13 June 1987
| predecessor3        = [[Richard Luce, Baron Luce|Richard Luce]]
| successor3          = [[David Mellor]]
| office4             = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]
| primeminister4      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start4         = 11 September 1984
| term_end4           = 1 September 1985
| predecessor4        = [[Ray Whitney (politician)|Ray Whitney]]
| successor4          = [[Tim Eggar]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| office6             = Member of the [[House of Lords]]
| status6             = [[Lord Temporal]]
| term_label6         = [[Life peer]]age
| term_start6         = 8 June 1997
| term_end6           = 14 April 2016
| office7             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Sussex]]
| term_start7         = 28 February 1974
| term_end7           = 8 April 1997
| predecessor7        = [[Boundary commissions (United Kingdom)|''Constituency established'']]
| successor7          = [[Nicholas Soames]]
| birth_name          = Ronald Timothy Renton
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1932|5|28|df=y}}
| birth_place         = London, England
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2020|8|25|1932|5|28|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Hamsey|Offham]], [[East Sussex]], England
| party               = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| education           = [[Eton College]]
| alma_mater          = [[Magdalen College, Oxford]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Alice Fergusson|1960}}
| children            = 5, including [[Alex Renton|Alex]] and [[Polly Renton|Polly]]
}}
'''Ronald Timothy Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|DL}} (28 May 1932 &ndash; 25 August 2020) was a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician.

==Early life==
Tim Renton, who rarely used his first name of Ronald, was born in London.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/lord-renton-of-mount-harry-obituary-22lhpf5jh|title = Lord Renton of Mount Harry obituary|date = 28 August 2020|access-date = 1 August 2021|work = [[The Times]]}}</ref> He attended [[Sunningdale School]] and then [[Eton College|Eton]], where he was a [[King's Scholar]]. He was an undergraduate at [[Magdalen College, Oxford]] on the Roberts Gawen scholarship, and earned a first-class degree in History.<ref>{{cite ODNB|first1=Peter|last1=Riddell|title=Renton, (Ronald) Timothy [Tim], Baron Renton of Mount Harry (1932–2020)|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-90000381691|access-date=15 January 2025|language=en|date=11 April 2024}}</ref>

==Parliamentary career==
After unsuccessfully contesting [[Sheffield Park (UK Parliament constituency)|Sheffield Park]] in [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970]], he was [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid-Sussex]] from 1974 to 1997.

He served as a [[Minister of State]] in both the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office|Foreign Office]] and the [[Home Office]], and served as [[Margaret Thatcher|Margaret Thatcher's]] [[Chief Whip]] ([[Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury]]) between 1989 and 1990. Following Thatcher's resignation in 1990 he served in [[John Major|John Major's]] government as [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts|Minister for the Arts]] between 1990 and 1992. During this time, he came up with the idea of  a [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/calls-for-inquiry-into-telemillion-1393875.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/calls-for-inquiry-into-telemillion-1393875.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Calls for inquiry into Telemillion|quote=As Arts Minister Mr Renton strove for 18 months to persuade the Treasury that a national lottery would be a good thing.|date=13 February 1994|website=The Independent}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/08/27/lord-renton-mount-harry-conservative-foreign-office-minister/|quote=As the 1992 election neared, Renton secured a manifesto commitment to set up a National Lottery|title=Lord Renton of Mount Harry, Conservative foreign office minister and Chief Whip – obituary|date=27 August 2020|accessdate=30 August 2020|website=The Telegraph}}</ref> This was later adopted as a government policy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/john-major-2/ |title=John Major |work=www.number10.gov.uk |publisher=HM Government |date= |accessdate=27 September 2013 |quote=John Major also established the National Lottery as a personal initiative which has provided billions of pounds for good causes. |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112084836/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/john-major-2/ |archivedate=12 January 2012}}</ref> He launched [[Music Day UK|National Music Day (UK)]] with [[Mick Jagger]] which ran from 1992 until around 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.list.co.uk/the-list/1992-06-19/29/|title=The List: 19 Jun 1992|date=1992-06-19|website=The List Archive|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://epdf.pub/joining-in-investigation-into-participatory-music-in-the-uk.html|title=Joining in: Investigation into Participatory Music in the UK - PDF Free Download|website=epdf.pub|language=en|access-date=2020-04-08}}</ref> He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to [[Geoffrey Howe]] and to [[John 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 the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 General Election]], he was created a [[life peer]] in the [[1997 Dissolution Honours]];<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54743 |date=18 April 1997 |page=4708 |supp=y}}</ref> on 9 June 1997 as '''Baron Renton of Mount Harry''', of [[Hamsey|Offham]] in the [[East Sussex|County of East Sussex]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54791 |date=12 June 1997 |page=6845}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24212 |date=17 June 1997 |page=1485 |city=e}}</ref> and took his seat in the [[House of Lords]]. He retired from the House on 14 April 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/937/career|title=Parliamentary career for Lord Renton of Mount Harry - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament|website=members.parliament.uk}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1960, he married Alice Blanche Helen Fergusson, daughter of [[Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet]] of Kilkerran. The couple lived in [[Offham, East Sussex|Offham]] near [[Lewes]] in [[East Sussex]] and had a holiday home on the [[hebrides|Hebridean]] island of [[Tiree]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Their four surviving children are [[Alex Renton]], a journalist and author,<ref name="Times">[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7146807.ece Obituary: Polly Renton]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''The Times'', 10 June 2010</ref> 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.<ref name="Times"/>

Renton died from cancer at his home in Offham on 25 August 2020, aged 88.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/aug/31/lord-renton-of-mount-harry-obituary|title = Lord Renton of Mount Harry obituary|last = Bates|first = Stephen|date = 31 August 2020|accessdate = 1 August 2021|work = [[The Guardian]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/18686892.obituary-veteran-mid-sussex-mp-lord-tim-renton/|title = Obituary: Veteran Mid Sussex MP Lord Tim Renton|last = Brooke|first = Samuel|date = 31 August 2021|accessdate = 1 August 2021|work = [[The Argus (Brighton)|The Argus]]}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*''The Dangerous Edge'', Hutchinson, 1994, {{ISBN|0-09-179151-0}}
*''Hostage to Fortune'', Arrow, 1998, {{ISBN|0-09-946831-X}}
*''Chief Whip'', Politico's, 2005, {{ISBN|1-84275-129-8}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Mid Sussex (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Sussex]]|years=[[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|1974]]–[[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nicholas Soames]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[David Waddington]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chief Whip of the Conservative Party]]|years=1989–1990}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Richard Ryder, Baron Ryder of Wensum|Richard Ryder]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury]]|years=1989–1990}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[David Mellor]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts|Minister of State for the Arts]]|years=1990–1992}}
{{s-aft|after=[[David Mellor]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Conservative Chief Whips}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of East Sussex]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:People from Hamsey]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974–1979]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Canada]]
[[Category:People educated at Sunningdale School]]