Liberal Democrat MP

Born: April 15, 1949;

Died: May 16, 2016

DAVID Rendel, who has died of cancer aged 67, was a former MP who secured the biggest ever by-election victory for the Liberal Democrats in 1993.

The by-election was forced on the Government by the death of the sitting MP Judith Chaplin just a few months after John Major’s general election win for the Conservatives in 1992. However, also fresh in the minds of the voters was Black Wednesday, the infamous day of crisis on which the Chancellor Norman Lamont was forced to take Britain out of Europe’s Exchange Rate Mechanism. Major had also signed the Maastricht Treaty, which led to the creation of the single currency.

Several anti-Maastricht candidates stood in the by-election at Newbury in Berkshire, but it was the Liberal Democrats who benefited. There was a 29 per cent swing from the Conservatives which led to Rendel winning by 22,055 votes. It was a major embarrassment for the Major Government and led directly to the sacking of Lamont, who had won few friends just before the by-election by refusing to apologise for Black Wednesday. “Je ne regrette rien,” he said.

Rendell had tried several times unsuccessfully to win the seat before, so the scale of his win was a shock – in the end, he took 65 per cent of the total vote – and he went on to hold the seat for 12 years.

The son of a foreign correspondent of The Times, he was born in Athens and attended Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied physics and philosophy. He was also a member of Oxford University’s record-breaking boat race crew of 1974.

He then worked for Shell, British Gas and Esso as a manager in computing and finance departments and after his election to parliament served as the Liberal Democrat spokesman for local government from 1993 – 1997 and then higher education from 2001 – 2005.

He stood for the leadership in 1999 after Paddy Ashdown stood down but came fifth behind the winner Charles Kennedy. He then lost his seat in the 2005 general election to Conservative former minister Richard Benyon.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said the party could still draw inspiration from Rendel’s 1993 election win as it sought to rebuild after the disaster of the last general election.

Mr Farron said: “I am hugely saddened by the loss of David Rendel. He was a committed, selfless individual who I will remember particularly for his unyielding campaigning over so many years.”

He said the Newbury by-election victory was inspirational then, and was inspirational today as Liberal Democrats fight to rebuild.

Lord Ashdown, who led the Lib Dems when David Rendel was elected, said: “It takes a strength of character to stand for public office, and his continued work campaigning for the Liberals and Liberal Democrats over so many years reflected not only his character but also his strong commitment and belief in the causes he fought for.”

Rendel is survived by his wife Susan and their three sons.