Dates

• Existence: b. 1938.

Biography

David Steel was born 31 March 1938 in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. He was brought up in Kenya and Scotland and educated at Dumbarton Academy; James Gillespies Boys’ School, Edinburgh; Prince Wales School, Nairobi; and George Watson’s College, Edinburgh. He attended Edinburgh University, from where he graduated with an MA in 1960 and a law degree in 1962. At Edinburgh University he became President of the Edinburgh University Liberals (1959) and the Students’ Representative Council (1960).

After a short-lived career as a journalist for the BBC in Scotland, Steel became the Assistant Secretary of the Scottish Liberal Party (1962-1964). In 1964 he became the Liberal Parliamentary candidate for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles. Although he was unsuccessful at the General Election that year he won the seat at the 1965 by-election. He remained MP for the constituency (re-drawn and re-named Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale in 1983) for the Liberal Party and after 1988 for the Liberal Democrats until 1997. After the reinstatement of the Scottish Parliament Steel served as an MSP from 1999 to 2003, during which time he was the parliament’s Presiding Officer. Since 1997 he has been a member of the House of Lords.

As an MP Steel was responsible for introducing, as a Private Members’ Bill, the Abortion Act 1967, a Private Members Bill to reform the abortion law in 1966. He also fulfilled several roles with the Liberal Party Parliamentary group until he was elected leader of the Liberal Party, following Jeremy Thorpe’s resignation in 1976.

Under Steel’s leadership the Liberal Party achieved greater success in local and general elections than any previous leaders since the end of WWII. From March 1977 to August 1978 he entered into an agreement with the Labour Party, which allowed Labour to remain in government. The Lib-Lab Pact ended in 1978. After the creation of the Social Democratic Party in 1981, the Liberals entered into an alliance with the new formation. This led to the merger and formation of the Liberal Democrats in 1988. Steel stepped down as leader in 1988 and became the Lib Dems Foreign Affairs Spokesman.

In 1989 he accepted an invitation from Italian Liberals to stand for the European Parliament. Although he polled very well he was not elected. The following year he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). From 1994 to 1996 he became President of the Liberal International. After retiring from the House of Commons in 1997 he was made a life peer as Baron Steel of Aikwood, of Ettrick Forest in the Scottish Borders.

During his political life Steel also campaigned for Scottish devolution. In 1989 he became co-chair the Scottish Constitutional Convention, which laid out the foundations for the devolved Scottish Parliament. In 1999 he was elected as a

Liberal Democrat MSP for the Lothians, and became the parliament’s first Presiding Officer until 2003.

Queen Elizabeth II appointed him Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland both in 2003 and 2004. On 30 November 2004 the Queen created Lord Steel of Aikwood a Knight of the Order of the Thistle, the highest honour in Scotland.

In 2006 Steel presided over a commission set up by the Liberal Democrats to look into further devolution proposals. The final report published in March 2006 recommended that the Scottish Parliament should raise as much revenue as was practical of its own spending.

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