Reginald Paget, Baron Paget of Northampton
Reginald Thomas Guy Des Voeux Paget, Baron Paget of Northampton,
Career
The son of Major Guy Paget, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read law, but did not graduate.[1] Paget joined the Labour Party whilst he was an undergraduate at Cambridge, a decision made striking by the fact that his family had produced five generations of Conservative MPs. He was called to the bar in 1934.
He stood as the Labour candidate for
He stood again as the Labour candidate for Northampton ten years later in 1945, and won the seat. He was repeatedly re-elected until 1974, when the constituency was abolished.[2] From 1960 to 1964, Paget successively served as junior opposition spokesman for the Royal Navy and the Army. He was an outspoken critic of Harold Wilson during the 1963 Labour Party leadership election.[1]
During his tenure in the House of Commons, he was an independent voice, playing a major role in the campaign to abolish capital punishment. He was a strong opponent of the execution of
Paget was initially supportive of British entry into the
On 2 January 1975, he was created a life peer as Baron Paget of Northampton, of Lubenham in Leicestershire.[2][4]
Paget was said to be the slowest speaker in the House of Commons and was master of the Pytchley Hunt from 1968 to 1971, an unusual position for a Labour MP.[1]
Family
In 1931, he married Sybil Helen Gibbons (Nancy), daughter of Sills Clifford Gibbons. They occupied Lubenham Lodge, two miles west of Market Harborough, from 1964. He later separated from his wife, and had a relationship with Diana Spearman, widow of the Conservative MP Sir Alexander Spearman.[1]
Arms
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References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39854. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c d A. Thomas Lane, Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders. Volume: 2, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT., 1995, p.724.
- ^ "European Community: Membership". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 359. HL. 21 April 1975, col. 655; 22 April 1975, col. 873.
- ^ "No. 46458". The London Gazette. 7 January 1975. p. 229.
- ^ "Life Peerages - P". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013.
Further reading
- "Lord Paget of Northampton", The Times (London), 4 January 1990, p. 14.