David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool
Encyclopedia
David Patrick Paul Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool (born 15 March 1951) is a British
politician
. He is a former Liberal Party
and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
(MP) who now sits as cross bench
member of the House of Lords
. He was made a Life peer
as Baron Alton of Liverpool, of Mossley Hill in the County of Merseyside
in 1997. He is noted for his opposition to abortion
. He has British
and Irish
citizenship.
, Greater London, and Christ's College
of Education, Liverpool. He began his career as a teacher and, in 1972, he was elected as a Liberal to Liverpool City Council as Britain's youngest City Councillor. He was elected as MP for Liverpool Edge Hill
at a by-election in 1979
, when he became the "Baby of the House
".
When the Edge Hill constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election
, he was elected as MP for the new Liverpool Mossley Hill
constituency.
to campaign for his unsuccessful private members' bill which aimed to stop late abortion
s.
The Liberal Party
merged in 1988 with the SDP
, and from 1988 to 1997 he served as a Liberal Democrat MP, but had difficult relations with parts of the party, especially over attempts to make the party adopt a pro-choice position on abortion.
He is known for his strongly Pro-Life
position on abortion
, which went against the pro-choice
politics of some in his party. In 1992, he announced that he would not stand again as a Liberal Democrat after the Party made support for abortion a party policy for the first time.
He stood down as an MP at the 1997 general election
. He was given a peerage as a personal choice of John Major
in the Dissolution Honours and took his seat in the House of Lords
as a Cross-bencher
.
In 1997, Lord Alton of Liverpool was appointed Professor of Citizenship at Liverpool John Moores University and founds the Foundation for Citizenship there. He chairs the Roscoe Lectures which has been addressed by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, amongst others.
Lord Alton is chairman of the British-DPRK All-Party Parliamentary Group, and visited Pyongyang in October 2010 when he had talks with leaders of the North Korea
n government including Choe Thae Bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly
, the country's rubber-stamp parliament.
Lord Alton has been a key campaigner against the Labour Government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, opposing the creation and use of animal human hybrid stem cells for medical purposes.
, a children's charity established to fulfil the humanitarian needs highlighted by the work of Jubilee Campaign.
In 2008, he publicly spoke out against the British Olympic Association when it forced athletes to sign an agreement forbidding them from criticizing China's human rights record before or during the 2008 Olympic games.
He is a patron of the International Young Leaders Network.
|-
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He is a former Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) who now sits as cross bench
Cross-bencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and Australian Senate. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber; compare...
member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He was made a Life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Alton of Liverpool, of Mossley Hill in the County of Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
in 1997. He is noted for his opposition to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. He has British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
citizenship.
Education and entry into politics
David Alton was educated at the Campion School, HornchurchCampion School, Hornchurch
The Campion School is a Catholic boys' comprehensive school and mixed sixth form located in Hornchurch, in the London Borough of Havering. The school has been awarded Specialist Science College status.-History:...
, Greater London, and Christ's College
Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University is a university in Liverpool, England. Two of its three founding colleges were established in 1844 and 1856, the third opening in the 1960s. It is the only ecumenical university in Europe. Based on two campuses, the main campus is located in Childwall and the second...
of Education, Liverpool. He began his career as a teacher and, in 1972, he was elected as a Liberal to Liverpool City Council as Britain's youngest City Councillor. He was elected as MP for Liverpool Edge Hill
Liverpool Edge Hill (UK Parliament constituency)
Liverpool Edge Hill was a borough constituency within the city and metropolitan borough of Liverpool, in the English county of Merseyside, centred around Edge Hill...
at a by-election in 1979
Liverpool Edge Hill by-election, 1979
The Liverpool Edge Hill by-election of 1979 was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 29 March 1979 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Edge Hill....
, when he became the "Baby of the House
Baby of the House
Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament.-Australia:In Australia the term is rarely used...
".
When the Edge Hill constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, he was elected as MP for the new Liverpool Mossley Hill
Liverpool Mossley Hill (UK Parliament constituency)
Liverpool Mossley Hill was a parliamentary constituency centered on the Mossley Hill suburb of Liverpool. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system.-History:The constituency was created...
constituency.
Political career
From 1979 to 1988 he was a Liberal MP, and served at various times as spokesman on the Environment, Home Affairs, Northern Ireland and as Chief Whip. In 1987 he resigned as chief whipWhip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
to campaign for his unsuccessful private members' bill which aimed to stop late abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s.
The Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
merged in 1988 with the SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
, and from 1988 to 1997 he served as a Liberal Democrat MP, but had difficult relations with parts of the party, especially over attempts to make the party adopt a pro-choice position on abortion.
He is known for his strongly Pro-Life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
position on abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, which went against the pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
politics of some in his party. In 1992, he announced that he would not stand again as a Liberal Democrat after the Party made support for abortion a party policy for the first time.
He stood down as an MP at the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. He was given a peerage as a personal choice of John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
in the Dissolution Honours and took his seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as a Cross-bencher
Cross-bencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and Australian Senate. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber; compare...
.
In 1997, Lord Alton of Liverpool was appointed Professor of Citizenship at Liverpool John Moores University and founds the Foundation for Citizenship there. He chairs the Roscoe Lectures which has been addressed by His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, amongst others.
Lord Alton is chairman of the British-DPRK All-Party Parliamentary Group, and visited Pyongyang in October 2010 when he had talks with leaders of the North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n government including Choe Thae Bok, chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly
Supreme People's Assembly
The Supreme People's Assembly is the unicameral parliament of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , commonly known as North Korea...
, the country's rubber-stamp parliament.
Lord Alton has been a key campaigner against the Labour Government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, opposing the creation and use of animal human hybrid stem cells for medical purposes.
Human rights
Lord Alton established the successful lobby group for human rights, Jubilee Campaign, in 1987, with the support of numerous members of parliament. Since then, he has also co-founded Jubilee ActionJubilee Action
Jubilee Action is an international Christian charity working to rescue and protect children of all faiths, races and cultures, facing the most serious injustices...
, a children's charity established to fulfil the humanitarian needs highlighted by the work of Jubilee Campaign.
In 2008, he publicly spoke out against the British Olympic Association when it forced athletes to sign an agreement forbidding them from criticizing China's human rights record before or during the 2008 Olympic games.
He is a patron of the International Young Leaders Network.
Books
Lord Alton of Liverpool is also an accomplished author and has published several non-fiction titles:- What Kind of Country? Marshall Pickering 1987
- Whose choice anyway? Marshal Pickering 1988
- Faith in Britain Hodder & Stoughton 1991
- Signs of Contradiction Hodder & Stoughton 1996
- Life After Death Christian Democrat Press 1997
- Citizen Virtues Harper Collins 1999
- Citizen 21 Harper Collins 2001
- Pilgrim Ways St Pauls Publishing 2001
- Passion and Pain (with Michele Lombardo) and accompanying DVD of TV series 2003
- Euthanasia: Getting To The Heart of The Matter (with Martin Foley) 2005
- Abortion: Getting To The Heart of The Matter (with Martin Foley) 2005
See also
- Liverpool Edge Hill by-election, 1979Liverpool Edge Hill by-election, 1979The Liverpool Edge Hill by-election of 1979 was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 29 March 1979 to elect a new Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of Liverpool Edge Hill....
- Morality and legality of abortion
- Pro-LifePro-lifeOpposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
- Human RightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
External links
- Lord Alton of Liverpool official site
- Jubilee Campaign
- Jubilee Action
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