John Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford

John Robert Louis Lee, Baron Lee of Trafford, DL, (born 21 June 1942) is a British Liberal Democrat politician.

Parliamentary career

In October 1974, he contested Manchester Moss Side, but was beaten by Labour's Frank Hatton. He was Conservative MP for Nelson and Colne from 1979 to 1983, and then for Pendle from 1983, until he lost his seat in 1992, to Gordon Prentice from Labour.

From 1983 to 1986, he served as junior minister for Defence Procurement, and then for Employment from 1986 to 1989, being Minister for Tourism from 1987 to 1989. In 1999, he became an non executive director, and a member of the board of the Emerson Group, part of Orbit Developments.

Career outside parliament

He has been Chairman of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions ,the major trade body since 1990.He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater Manchester and was High Sheriff of Greater Manchester in 1998.He was previously Chairman of the Christie Hospital NHS Trust,The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and The Council of the National Youth Bureau .He was formerly a member of the English Tourist Board and vice chairman of the NW Conciliation Committee of the Race Relations Board.

House of Lords

In May 2001, he left the Conservatives and joined the Liberal Democrats, and was made a life peer as Baron Lee of Trafford, of Bowden in the County of Cheshire, on 26 May 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he served as a Whip for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. In February 2012, he vowed to resign, in protest of the House of Lords Reform Bill making its way into the Queen's Speech.

In December 2013, he released his "financial autobiography" How to Make a Million – Slowly: Guiding Principles From a Lifetime Investing.

Arms