William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth
| The Right Honourable The Earl of Dartmouth MEP |
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| Member of the European Parliament for South West England |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 14 July 2009 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 September 1949 |
| Political party | UK Independence |
| Other political affiliations |
Conservative (until 2007); European Parliament |
| Relations | Diana, Princess of Wales (stepsister) |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford Harvard Business School |
| Religion | Anglican |
William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth MEP (born 23 September 1949), is a British politician and hereditary peer. Legge is a Member of the European Parliament (M.E.P.) for South West England, representing the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). He now prefers to be known as William Dartmouth.
Early life
Lord Dartmouth is the eldest son of The 9th Earl of Dartmouth and Raine McCorquodale, the daughter of romantic novelist, Dame Barbara Cartland. Thus, he was a stepbrother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Education
Dartmouth was educated at Eton College before going up to Christ Church, Oxford, where he became an officer of the Oxford University Conservative Association and later of the Oxford Union Society.[1] He also attended Harvard Business School, from which he further graduated as M.B.A.
Life and career
He succeeded as Earl of Dartmouth in 1997. As Lord Dartmouth he sat in the House of Lords until 1999, when the Labour Party attempted to remove the hereditary principle from Parliament. In January 2007, Dartmouth announced he was leaving the Conservative Party in favour of UKIP citing concerns about Conservative Leader David Cameron's policies.[2]
Dartmouth was elected as the second UKIP candidate for the South West England region in the European Parliament election, 2009. In the European Parliament he sits with the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group and is a Member of the Committee on International Trade.
In June 2009, he married a Melbourne-born former model Fiona Campbell (now styled Lady Dartmouth), whose first husband, Matt Handbury, is Rupert Murdoch's nephew.
Lord Dartmouth has a son (Gerald Glen Legge, born 2005) from a previous relationship with the socialite, Claire Kavanagh. His son, being born out of wedlock, cannot be heir to the earldom. Only the eldest legitimate son of the Earl of Dartmouth would be able to use the courtesy title of Viscount Lewisham.
The current heir presumptive to the earldom of Dartmouth is the present Earl's younger brother, The Hon Rupert Legge.[3]
References
- ^ www.williamdartmouth.com
- ^ Conservative peer defects to UKIP www.bbc.co.uk, BBC News, 20 January 2007. Accessed 14 May 2008.
- ^ www.alterrapower.ca
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth |
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Dartmouth
- Debrett's People of Today
- European Parliament profile
- William Dartmouth's website
- www.ukipmeps.org
| Peerage of Great Britain | ||
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| Preceded by Gerald Humphry Legge |
Earl of Dartmouth 1997 – present Member of the House of Lords (1997 – 1999) |
Incumbent |
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