Editing David Rendel

{{Short description|British politician (1949–2016)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = 
|name         = David Rendel
|honorific-suffix = 
|image        = David Rendel - Newbury declaration.jpg
|imagesize    = 200px
|alt          = 
|caption      = David Rendel at the Newbury declaration for the 2005 election
|office       = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Newbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Newbury]]
|parliament   = 
|majority     = 
|term_start   = 6 May 1993
|term_end     = 11 April 2005
|predecessor  = [[Judith Chaplin]]
|successor    = [[Richard Benyon]]
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1949|04|15|df=yes}}
|birth_place  =  [[Athens]], Greece
|death_date   = {{Death date and age|2016|05|16|1949|04|15|df=yes}}
|death_place  = [[Berkshire]], England
|restingplace = 
|birthname    = 
|nationality  = British
|party        = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]
|otherparty   = 
|spouse       = 
|relations    = 
|children     = 
|residence    = 
|alma_mater   = [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], [[St Cross College, Oxford]]
|occupation   = 
|profession   = 
|cabinet      = 
|committees   = 
|portfolio    = 
|religion     = 
|signature    = 
|signature_alt= 
|website      = 
|footnotes    = 
}}
'''David Digby Rendel''' (15 April 1949 – 16 May 2016) was a British politician for the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]. He was the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Newbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Newbury]] from 1993 to 2005. He won the seat in a [[1993 Newbury by-election|by-election in May 1993]] caused by the death of [[Judith Chaplin]], and he held it until his defeat at the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]] to [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate [[Richard Benyon]]. At the time he lost his seat he was the Liberal Democrats' spokesman on Higher and Further Education. 

== Early life ==
Rendel was born in Athens.<ref name="death">{{cite news|url= http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/home/18142/Former-MP-for-Newbury-David-Rendel.html|title= Former MP for Newbury David Rendel dies|work=Newbury Today |date= 17 May 2016|accessdate= 17 May 2016 | location=[[Newbury, Berkshire]] | first=John | last=Herring}}</ref> He was educated at [[Eton College]], [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], and [[St Cross College, Oxford]], Rendel was a member of the winning [[Oxford University Boat Club|Oxford]] [[The Boat Race|boat race]] crew of [[The Boat Race 1974|1974]]. After a [[gap year]] volunteering in Africa, he worked in the finance department of [[Shell Oil Company]].

His father [[Sandy Rendel]] was a SOE agent and foreign correspondent for ''[[The Times]]'', and he was a great-grandson of civil engineer [[Alexander Meadows Rendel|Sir Alexander Meadows Rendel]], and a great-great-nephew of [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] MP [[Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel|Stuart Rendel]].

== Political career ==
Rendel fought and lost two elections in [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979]] and [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]] at [[Fulham (UK Parliament constituency)|Fulham]], before moving to Newbury in 1986, when his wife started work as a [[General practitioner|GP]]. 
He became a [[Newbury (borough)|Newbury District]] [[Councillor]] from 1987 to 1995, and fought the Newbury seat unsuccessfully in the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]], gaining 37% of the votes.

He won the [[1993 Newbury by-election]] with a large majority of 22,055, receiving 65% of the votes. He first came to national attention for supporting the [[Newbury bypass]], and in 1999 stood in the [[1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election|election for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats]], but came fifth of five candidates, with [[Charles Kennedy]] being elected.

Rendel held on to his seat in 1997 and 2001 with reduced majorities, but at the 2005 election he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, [[Richard Benyon]].

In May 2006, Rendel was selected by local party members as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Newbury seat for the next election. At the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|general election in May 2010]], he was again defeated by the sitting Conservative, Richard Benyon, whose majority grew to 21%.

Rendel was a directly elected member of the [[Federal Board (Liberal Democrats)|Liberal Democrats’ Federal Executive]] until 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.libdems.org.uk/party_organisations_detail.aspx?title=Federal_Executive&pPK=8dae9f78-9643-4cbd-a41e-1d3e37521826|title=Federal Executive|publisher=Liberal Democrats|accessdate=2010-05-12|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523102231/http://www.libdems.org.uk/party_organisations_detail.aspx?title=Federal_Executive&pPK=8dae9f78-9643-4cbd-a41e-1d3e37521826|archivedate=2010-05-23}}</ref> After the election of 2010, Rendel was the only member on the Federal Executive to vote against the [[Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement|Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/11/coalition-government-conservatives-lib-dem|title= David Cameron sacrifices inheritance tax policy to win Liberal Democrat deal|work=[[The Guardian]] |date= 11 May 2010|accessdate= 12 May 2010 | location=London | first=Nicholas | last=Watt}}</ref>

In September 2014, Rendel was selected as Liberal Democrat candidate in the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]] for the seat of [[Somerton and Frome (UK Parliament constituency)|Somerton and Frome]] in [[Somerset]]; however, he lost to the Conservative candidate, [[David Warburton]].

==Death==
Rendel died from cancer in Berkshire on 16 May 2016, aged 67.<ref name="death"/>

== Legacy ==
[[Lee Dillon]], describes Rendel as his political inspiration, complimenting his passion for the constituency.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lee Dillon selected to fight Newbury constituency for Liberal Democrats at next election |url=https://www.wbld.org.uk/news/article/lee-dillon-selected |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=www.wbld.org.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref> In [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]], Dillon won the Newbury constituency for the Liberal Democrats for the first time since Rendel's defeat in 2005. 

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060111191637/http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/mr-david-rendel.html David Rendel] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
*[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-4382,00.html Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle – David Rendel]
*[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/david_rendel/newbury TheyWorkForYou.com – David Rendel]
*[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=David_Rendel&mpc=Newbury The Public Whip – David Rendel] voting record
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/300.stm BBC News – David Rendel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213174132/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/300.stm |date=13 February 2009 }} profile 10 February 2005

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Judith Chaplin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Newbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Newbury]]|years=[[1993 Newbury by-election|1993]]–[[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Richard Benyon]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{1999 Liberal Democrats leadership election}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rendel, David}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Cross College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Councillors in Berkshire]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]
[[Category:Newbury, Berkshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]