Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart

Infobox Politician
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name = Robert Maclennan
honorific-suffix =
Baron Maclennan of Rogart, FRS, PC

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imagesize=200px
birth_date = Birth date and age|1936|06|26|df=yes
birth_place = Glasgow Scotland, UK
office = Leader of Social and Liberal Democrats
term_start = 6 August 1987
term_end = 16 July 1988
predecessor = Party Merged
successor = Paddy Ashdown
office2 = Leader of Social Democratic Party
term_start2 = 28 August 1987
term_end2 = 16 July 1988
predecessor2 = David Owen
successor2 = Party Disbanded
constituency_MP3=Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Caithness and Sutherland (from 1966 to 1992)
term_start3 = 31 March 1966
term_end3 = 7 June 2001
predecessor3 = George Y Mackie
successor3 = John Thurso
party = (1) Labour (2) Social Democratic Party, (3) Liberal Democrats

Robert Adam Ross "Bob" Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart PC (born 26 June 1936, Glasgow) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat life peer. He was the last leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), serving during the negotiations that led to its merger with the Liberal Party in 1988. He then became joint interim leader of the new party, known as the Social and Liberal Democrats (SLD) before later becoming the Liberal Democrats.

Early life

Maclennan was educated at Glasgow Academy, Balliol College, Oxford, Trinity College, Cambridge and Columbia University, New York City. He became Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Caithness and Sutherland in 1966, and serving until 1997; and for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross after boundary changes, from 1997 to 2001. Following this he was raised to the House of Lords, elevated to a life peer as Baron Maclennan of Rogart, of Rogart in Sutherland.

Member of Parliament, Labour, SDP and Retirement

He was first elected as a member of the Labour Party and served as a junior minister in the Labour government of 1974-1979, but in 1981 defected to become a founder member of the SDP. He was one of the few SDP MPs to keep their seats in the 1983 general election. After his stint as SDP Leader in 1988, he served as a front bench spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, and as their president from 1994 until 1998. He is now the party's Cabinet Office spokesman in the House of Lords.

External links

* [http://www.libdems.org.uk/people/lord-maclennan-of-rogart Lord Maclennan of Rogart] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats