Adrian Slade
{{Short description|British politician (1936–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Adrian Slade
| honorific-suffix = CBE
| image = AdrianSlade1987 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Slade in 1987
| office = President of the Liberal Party
| term_start = 1987
| term_end = 2 March 1988
| predecessor = Des Wilson
| successor = Ian Wrigglesworth
President of the Liberal Democrats
| office2 = Member of the Greater London Council
for Richmond
| majority2 = 815 (0.4%)
| predecessor2 = Edward Leigh
| successor2 = seat abolished
| term_start2 = 7 May 1981
| term_end2 = 31 March 1986
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|05|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|01|24|1936|05|25|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| spouse =
| party = Liberal Party
Liberal Democrats
| relations =
| children =
| alma_mater = Trinity College, Cambridge
| religion =
}}
Adrian Carnegie Slade {{Post-nominals|post-noms=CBE}} (25 May 1936 – 24 January 2025) was a British Liberal and Liberal Democrat politician and advertising agency founder.
Life and career
Born in 1936 to George Penkivil Slade {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=90%|KC}} (a kinsman of Sir Benjamin Slade), he was educated at Eton College before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he became President of the Footlights, and famously recruited Peter Cook.
Slade was a Liberal Party parliamentary candidate in the 1960s and 1970s,{{cite web
|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/6296/Adrian%20Carnegie%20SLADE.aspx
|title=Adrian Slade
|work=Debrett's People of Today
|accessdate=9 February 2011 |url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709004908/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/s/6296/Adrian%20Carnegie%20SLADE.aspx
|archivedate=9 July 2011 }}
contesting Putney in 1966,{{cite web |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge66/i16.htm |title=UK General Election results March 1966 |work=Richard Kimber's Political Science Resource |accessdate=5 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615024305/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge66/i16.htm |archive-date=15 June 2015 |url-status=dead }} February 1974{{cite web |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i16.htm |title=UK General Election results February 1974 |work=Richard Kimber's Political Science Resource |accessdate=5 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127050824/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i16.htm |archive-date=27 January 2015 |url-status=dead }} and October 1974.{{cite web |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74b/i16.htm |title=UK General Election results October 1974 |work=Richard Kimber's Political Science Resource |accessdate=5 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508153704/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74b/i16.htm |archive-date=8 May 2015 |url-status=dead }} He stood as an SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate for Wimbledon in 1987.{{cite web |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i21.htm |title=UK General Election results June 1987 |work=Richard Kimber's Political Science Resource |accessdate=5 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522024842/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i21.htm |archive-date=22 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}
He scored an upset electoral victory in the 1981 elections to the Greater London Council (GLC), winning the Richmond seat from the Conservative Edward Leigh by just 115 votes.{{Cite web |url=http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glcrm.html |title=Greater London Council Election results: Richmond-upon-Thames |access-date=6 April 2006 |archive-date=5 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505080451/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/glc/glcrm.html |url-status=dead }} He became Leader of the SDP–Liberal Alliance group on the GLC, and remained so until the GLC's dissolution in 1986.
He was the last President of the Liberal Party, from 1987 to 1988, conducting its merger negotiations with the SDP, Slade then served as a Vice-President of the Liberal Democrats (1988–89).
Slade was also known within Liberal Party circles as a pianist and singer, talents which he shared with his brother Julian Slade. His eldest brother, Sir Christopher Slade, was a Lord Justice of Appeal (1982–91) and his sister was Pauline Hamilton-Russell.[https://www.burkespeerage.com/ www.burkespeerage.com]
Slade had two children, Nicola and Rupert, with his wife Sue ({{née|Forsyth}}). He died on 24 January 2025, at the age of 88.{{cite news |title=Adrian Slade |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/births-marriages-and-deaths-february-10-2025-0r3qw0nm7 |access-date=10 February 2025 |publisher=The Times |date=10 February 2025}}
References
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{{succession box | title=President of the Liberal Party | before=Des Wilson | after=Ian Wrigglesworth
President of the Liberal Democrats | years=1987–1988}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slade, Adrian}}
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Members of the Greater London Council
Category:Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians
Category:Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK)
Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Category:People educated at Eton College
{{Liberal Party (UK)}}