The Right Honourable
The Lord Ashton of Hyde
PC
Official portrait, 2022
Chair of the International Relations and Defence Committee
Assumed office
31 January 2023
Preceded byThe Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Chief Whip of the House of Lords
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
In office
26 July 2019 – 7 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThe Lord Taylor of Holbeach
Succeeded byThe Baroness Williams of Trafford
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society
In office
13 July 2016 – 26 July 2019[1]
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byRob Wilson
Succeeded byThe Baroness Barran
Lord-in-waiting
Government Whip
In office
15 July 2014 – 11 June 2017
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Preceded byThe Lord Bates
Succeeded byThe Lord Henley
Member of the House of Lords
as an elected hereditary peer
25 July 2011
By-election25 July 2011
Preceded byThe 7th Earl of Onslow
Personal details
Born (1958-07-18) 18 July 1958
Political partyConservative
SpouseEmma Allinson
RelativesThomas Ashton (father)
EducationTrinity College, Oxford (BA)

Thomas Henry Ashton, 4th Baron Ashton of Hyde, PC (born 18 July 1958), has served as a Minister in HM Government since 2014 and by profession is an insurance broker. 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]

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

Coat of arms of Henry Ashton, 4th Baron Ashton of Hyde
Coronet
That of a Baron
Crest
On a Mount Vert a Mower Proper vested paly Argent and Sable in the act of whetting his Scythe also Proper.
Helm
That of a Peer
Escutcheon
Sable on a Pile between two Crescents in base Argent a Mullet pierced of the First.
Supporters
Dexter, a Mower Proper vested paly Argent and Sable holding in the exterior hand a Scythe also Proper; Sinister, a Boar Argent semy of Mullets Sable pierced.
Motto
Fide et Virtute
(Eng: With faith and valour)

References

  1. ↑ Portfolio was DCMS until June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Conservative Hereditary Peers' by-election, July 2011: Result" (PDF). House of Lords. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Lord Ashton of Hyde". GOV.UK. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Full list of new ministerial and government appointments: June 2017". Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Two British Lords Just Gave a Charmingly Spot-On Definition of 'Algorithm', Will Oremus, Slate.com, 2019-03-14
  6. ↑ "14 March 2019 Volume 796". House of Lords Hansard. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  7. ↑ video, Twitter, 2019-03-14
  8. ↑ "Boris Johnson 'absolutely' rules out pre-Brexit election". BBC News. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  9. ↑ ORDERS APPROVED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BALMORAL ON 28TH AUGUST 2019
  10. ↑ 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.
  • ‘ASHTON OF HYDE’, Who's Who 2018, A & C Black; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2017
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