David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, GCVO, PC, QC, DL (2 August 1929 – 24 February 2017) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1968 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1990, and was then made a life peer. He was the government Chief Whip from 1987-89, and served in the Cabinet as Home Secretary from 1989-90 and Leader of the House of Lords from 1990-92. He then served as the Governor of Bermuda from 1992-97.

Early life

Waddington was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and educated at two independent schools in North West England: Cressbrook School in Kirkby Lonsdale (formerly in Westmorland, since 1974 in Cumbria) and Sedbergh School (formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire and also now, since 1974, in Cumbria). He then went to Hertford College, Oxford, where he became President of the Oxford University Conservative Association and was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1951.

Stefan Kiszko trial

In 1976 Waddington led the defence in the trial of Stefan Kiszko, a case which became a significant miscarriages of justice. The British tax clerk from Rochdale, who was convicted of the murder of 12-year-old Lesley Molseed, served 16 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. It is alleged this was because Kiszko's defence team made significant mistakes. Firstly, they did not seek an adjournment when the Crown delivered thousands of pages of additional unused material on the first morning of the trial. Waddington recalled, "the unused material did not include the results of tests on Mr Kiszko's semen which were then in the hands of the Police and showed that Mr Kiszko was not the murderer".

Secondly, it has also been alleged that, in court, Waddington maintained the defence of diminished responsibility which Kiszko had never authorised. Waddington stated that this assertion runs counter to what Kiszko's new counsel told the Court of Appeal. Sedley (later Lord Justice Sedley) said that "I am now completely satisfied that advice had been given to Mr Kiszko and his authority properly obtained."

Kiszko was finally released in 1992 after the Court of Appeal was told forensic evidence showed that he could not have been the murderer. The Court of Appeal was told that Kiszko was incapable of producing the sperm found on the girl's clothing, evidence to this effect being available at the time of the trial but not disclosed to the defence. Coincidentally, Kiszko's appeal was first lodged on the day Waddington was announced as the new Home Secretary in 1989.

Political career

Waddington stood several times for election before being elected. He fought Farnworth at the 1955 general election, Nelson and Colne constituency in 1964, and Heywood and Royton in 1966.

He was first elected to Parliament at the 1968 Nelson and Colne by-election caused by the death of Labour MP Sydney Silverman. He was re-elected in 1970 and in February 1974, but lost his seat at the October 1974 general election by a margin of 669 votes to Labour's Doug Hoyle.

He was returned to Parliament for Clitheroe at the by-election in March 1979, and was subsequently elected for the broadly-similar Ribble Valley constituency in 1983.

A junior minister under Margaret Thatcher, Waddington was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and Government Whip (1979–81), Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Employment (1981–83), Minister of State at the Home Office (1983–87) and Chief Whip from 1987 until his elevation to Cabinet level, becoming Home Secretary in 1989.

On 4 December 1990, he was created a life peer as Baron Waddington, of Read in the County of Lancashire. He served as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords until 1992. He served as Governor of Bermuda 1992–1997.

In 1994, Lord Waddington was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO).

In 2008, his amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, known as the Waddington Amendment, inserted a freedom of speech clause into new anti-homophobic hate crime legislation.

In 2009, the Government failed to repeal the Waddington Amendment in the Coroners and Justice Bill.

On 26 March 2015, Lord Waddington retired from the House of Lords pursuant to section 1 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.

Lord Waddington was Chairman of the European Reform Forum.

Death

He died on 24 February 2017, aged 87.