1630 Leslie Renton

Constituency : Gainsborough  1906-10  ( from  1907  Liberal  Unionist )

Leslie  took  Gainsborough  from  the  Tories.

Leslie  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Sandhurst. He  joined  the  army  in  1888  and  served  in  the  Boer  War. He  travelled  in  Africa  and  Central  Asia. He  stood  for  Dorset  South  in  1900.

Once  in  Parliament  Leslie  was  taken  aback  by  the  reforming  zeal  of  the  government  and  in  1907  crossed  over  to  sit  with  the  Liberal  Unionists. He  decried  the  Licensing  Bill  of  1908  at  a  demonstration in  Hyde  Park. He  described  proposals  for  reform  of  the  Lords  as  "meddling ".

In  January  1910,  Leslie  switched  seats  but  failed  to  unseat  Rufus  Isaacs  at  Reading.

Leslie  served during  World  War  One.

He  died  in  1947  aged  78.