biography
| name: |
Rodgers, Bill
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popular name of Lord William Thomas Rodgers of Quarry Bank
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1928– )
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| biography:
| British statesman, born in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He studied at Oxford, served as general secretary of the Fabian Society (1953–60), and became a Labour MP in 1962. He held a succession of posts, culminating in that of transport secretary (1976–9). With Roy Jenkins, David Owen, and Shirley Williams, he left Labour to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981, and became influential as SDP vice-president (1982–7). Despite expressing support for the SDP–Liberal merger of 1987–8, he resigned to become director-general of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was given a life peerage in 1992, and succeeded Roy Jenkins as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords (1997–2001). |
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