Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith

The Right Honourable The Earl of Oxford and Asquith OBE
Asquith coat of arms
Member of the House of Lords
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 October 2014
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	The Lord Methuen
Personal details
Born	Raymond (Benedict Bartholomew Michael) Asquith (1952-08-24) 24 August 1952 London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrat
Spouse(s)	Clare Asquith (née Pollen)
Children	5
Parents	2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith (father)
Residence	London Mells, Somerset
Alma mater	Ampleforth; Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Diplomat
Website	www.parliament.uk

Earl's coronet

Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, OBE (born 24 August 1952) is a British former diplomat and hereditary peer. Styled Viscount Asquith until he succeeded to his father's peerage titles on 16 January 2011, the earldom of Oxford and Asquith was created for his paternal great-grandfather, H. H. Asquith, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Early life

Lord Oxford (as he is now known) is the elder son of the late 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith. He is named after his paternal grandfather Raymond Asquith, a scholar and Army officer, who was killed in action during the First World War.

He was educated at Farleigh School and Ampleforth College, and subsequently obtained an MA degree at Balliol College, Oxford.

Career

Raymond Asquith joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1980 as a career diplomat, serving until 1997. As well as postings in London at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to the Cabinet Office, he served as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Moscow from 1983–85, and Counsellor at HM Embassy in Kiev from 1992–97. According to the Daily Telegraph, he was MI6 station commander in Moscow and was personally responsible for exfiltrating the KGB officer and British agent Oleg Gordievsky concealed in his car.^[1] Asquith was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "diplomatic services" in 1992. Other family members who served as British diplomats include his father, his brother Sir Dominic Asquith (former British Ambassador to Iraq and Egypt),^[2] and his maternal grandfather Sir Michael Palairet.

He is currently a company director of the Ukrainian corporation owned by Dmytro Firtash, and is also active in various organizations working for or promoting charitable activities in the Ukraine.^[3]

In October 2014, the Earl of Oxford and Asquith was elected in the House of Lords by-election to replace the late Lord Methuen (who died in July 2014) and to sit as a Liberal Democrat, alongside his cousin Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury on the government benches (as the LibDems were then part of a coalition government) in the House of Lords.^[4][5]

Personal life

Married since 1978 to the author and scholar Clare Pollen (born 2 June 1951),^[6] eldest daughter of Francis Anthony Baring Pollen (1926–1987) by his wife Marie Therese Sheridan (later Viscountess Sidmouth, wife of the 7th Viscount), the Earl and Countess of Oxford and Asquith have a son and four daughters.^[7][8][9]

• Mark Julian Asquith, Viscount Asquith (born 13 May 1979)
• Lady Magdalen Katharine Asquith (born 30 December 1981)
• Lady Frances Sophia Asquith (born 1984)
• Lady Celia Rose Asquith (born 1989)
• Lady Isabel Anne Asquith (born 1991)

The son, Mark Julian Asquith styled Viscount Asquith, is heir apparent to the family titles.

The senior branch of the Asquith family has been Roman Catholic since Katherine Asquith (mother of the 2nd Earl) converted after the death of her husband. Lord Oxford's mother was also a Catholic, as is his wife.

Ancestry

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Earl of Oxford and Asquith
• Who's Who (2007 edition, qv. "Asquith, Viscount", page 71, col. 2.)
• Burke's Peerage and Baronetage
• Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage

References