Robin Hodgson, Baron Hodgson of Astley Abbotts

Robin Granville Hodgson, Baron Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, CBE (born 25 April 1942) is a British Conservative Party politician and life peer.

Early life and education

Hodgson was born in 1942 in Leamington Spa and was educated at the independent, fee-paying Shrewsbury School. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1964 and attained an MBA from the Wharton School of Finance in 1969.

Political career

Hodgson ran as a Conservative in both the February and October 1974 general elections, in which he unsuccessfully contested the strong Labour seat of Walsall North. But in a 1976 by-election caused by incumbent John Stonehouse's imprisonment, Hodgson managed to overturn the large Labour majority to become the Member of Parliament.

However, in the 1979 general election, he could not hold the seat against the Labour candidate David Winnick, despite achieving an 11% swing. The seat was then held by Labour until 2017, when it was won back by the Conservatives' Eddie Hughes.

In 1981, he was selected as candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Stratford-upon-Avon, but resigned his candidature in 1982 for undisclosed personal reasons, and never returned to the Commons.

He was awarded a CBE in the 1992 New Year's Honours.

He served as Chairman of the National Union of Conservative Associations from 1996 until 1998, and as Chairman of the National Conservative Convention from 1998 until 2000.

He was created a life peer, as Baron Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, of Nash in the County of Shropshire, on 7 June 2000. In November 2011, Hodgson was appointed by David Cameron's government to perform a wholesale review of the Charities Act 2006 and Charities Act 2011, which was published in 2012. He is an ambassador for the volunteering network, REACH.

Personal life

In 1982, Hodgson married Fiona Ferelith Allom, who was created Baroness Hodgson of Abinger in 2013.

Arms