Henry Ashton, 4th Baron Ashton of Hyde
Thomas Henry Ashton, 4th Baron Ashton of Hyde, PC (born 18 July 1958), is a British hereditary peer and former insurance broker who served as Chief Whip of the House of Lords and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 2019 to 2022. He succeeded to his family's peerage title on 2 August 2008.
Education and career
Henry Ashton went to Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford. He was commissioned in the Royal Hussars, later becoming a Lieutenant in the Royal Wessex Yeomanry. Ashton worked as an insurance broker and held the position of chief executive officer at Berkshire Hathaway-owned Lloyd's firms Faraday Underwriting Ltd, and Faraday Reinsurance Co. Ltd, from 2005 until 2013. From 2010 to 2013 Lord Ashton was a member of the Council of Lloyd's. Elected a representative hereditary peer in July 2011, Ashton sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative.[2] In the July 2014 government reshuffle he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting and Whip in the Lords by Prime Minister David Cameron,[3] serving until the 2017 general election.[4] In July 2016 Prime Minister Theresa May appointed him as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. In March 2019, Lord Ashton received international publicity and acclaim for giving a correct and clever definition[5] to Lord Geddes, to the latter's question about the meaning of the term algorithm. Lord Ashton gave the definition as "an algorithm is a set of rules that precisely defines a sequence of operations".[6] The definition was said to "[rival] dictionary entries for clarity and succinctness—wrapped up in a historical allusion that he knew his classically educated interlocutor would understand."[7] In July 2019, Lord Ashton of Hyde was appointed Chief Whip in the House of Lords by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.[8] He was appointed to the Privy Council the following month.[9] In June 2024, Lord Ashton of Hyde was appointed Master of the Horse by King Charles III.
Family
Descended from a cadet branch of the ancient Lancashire Assheton family, he married Emma Louise Allinson, daughter of Colin Allinson and Alison Palmer (née Bartholomew), in 1987; they have four daughters/ As he does not have any sons, the heir presumptive to the family title is his younger brother, Jack Ashton.[10]
See also
Arms
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References
- ↑ Portfolio was DCMS until June 2017.
- ↑ "Conservative Hereditary Peers' by-election, July 2011: Result" (PDF). House of Lords. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ↑ "Lord Ashton of Hyde". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ↑ "Full list of new ministerial and government appointments: June 2017". Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- ↑ Two British Lords Just Gave a Charmingly Spot-On Definition of 'Algorithm', Will Oremus, Slate.com, 2019-03-14
- ↑ "14 March 2019 Volume 796". House of Lords Hansard. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- ↑ video, Twitter, 2019-03-14 [dead link]
- ↑ "Boris Johnson 'absolutely' rules out pre-Brexit election". BBC News. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ↑ ORDERS APPROVED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BALMORAL ON 28TH AUGUST 2019
- ↑ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn. London: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 159 (ASHTON OF HYDE, B). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
External links
- ‘ASHTON OF HYDE’, Who's Who 2018, A & C Black; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2017
- 1958 births
- Living people
- People from Gloucestershire
- Ashton family
- People educated at Eton College
- Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
- Barons Ashton of Hyde
- Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting
- Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers
- English financial businesspeople
- Government ministers of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999