Richard Denison, 9th Baron Londesborough
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = The Lord Londesborough
| image = Official portrait of Lord Londesborough crop 2.jpg
| caption = Lord Londesborough in 2021, official photo
| office1 = Member of the House of Lords
| status1 = Lord Temporal
| term_label1 = as a hereditary peer
| term_start1 = 8 April 1996
| term_end1 = 11 November 1999
| predecessor1 = The 8th Baron Londesborough
| successor1 = Seat abolished{{thin space|{{efn|Pursuant to the House of Lords Act 1999.}}}}
| term_label2 = as an elected hereditary peer
| term_start2 = 23 June 2021
| term_end2 =
| predecessor2 = The 31st Countess of Mar
| successor2 =
| birth_name = Richard John Denison
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|7|2|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| party = None (crossbench)
}}
Richard John Denison, 9th Baron Londesborough (born 2 July 1959), is an entrepreneur, investor in start-ups and Crossbench member of the House of Lords.
Early life
Londesborough was a journalist and foreign correspondent in Iran (1978) and Mexico (1982) before setting up from his kitchen table a specialist informational service, Latin America Monitor, with fellow journalist Jonathan Feroze in 1984.
Londesborough and Feroze built up the company (rebranded BMI Research in 1991) into a global country risk platform, employing 300 staff across five continents, with the backing in 2009 of Boston-based Spectrum Equity Partners. They sold the company in 2014 to the Fitch Group.
They set up Sevenex Capital Partners in 2015, providing early stage equity to entrepreneurs across a range of sectors, including B2B media, film, theatre, food & drink, pet care and fintech – including the Social Value Portal, FX Loop, Borrowmydoggy, Loving Vincent and Wipers Times.
Londesborough also became Chairman of information provider Tussell Limited in 2021.
Political career
Londesborough took his seat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords in 1999, and made his maiden/valedictory speech just one week before being excluded by the House of Lords Act 1999.{{cite web |date=4 June 2021 |title=Hereditary peers' by-election |url=https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/lords-communications/by-elections/notice-with-candidates-list-mar.pdf |access-date=17 June 2021 |publisher=House of Lords}}
He became a member of the Lords again in June 2021, having been elected by the whole House in a by-election following the retirement of the Countess of Mar.{{cite web |date=17 June 2021 |title=Hereditary peers' by-election, June 2021: result |url=https://www.parliament.uk/contentassets/89574e5a22664ce6b21bd10898717cdc/hereditary-peers-by-election-result-mar.pdf |access-date=17 June 2021}} After a gap of 22 years, Lord Londesborough spoke again in the Lords, touching on his first maiden speech and foreign aid on 27 October 2021.{{cite web |date=1 July 2021 |title=House of Lords: Oath |url=https://lordsbusiness.parliament.uk/ItemOfBusiness?itemOfBusinessId=99727§ionId=40&businessPaperDate=2021-07-01 |access-date=2 July 2021 |publisher=UK Parliament}}
He speaks regularly on the economy, business, entrepreneurship, sport and small and medium enterprises, and was appointed to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee in 2023.
He caused controversy in 2023 during a debate on artificial intelligence, by raising the prospect that members of the House of Lords might be replaced by "peerbots with deeper knowledge, higher productivity and lower running costs."
Personal life
Londesborough married Rikki (née Morris) in 1987. They have a son and a daughter, and live on Richmond Hill in west London.
Notes
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References
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{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=John Denison}}
{{s-ttl|title=Baron Londesborough|years=1968–present|lords=1996–1999}}
{{s-inc|heir=Hon. James Denison|heir-type=Heir apparent}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=The Countess of Mar}}
{{s-ttl|title=Elected hereditary peer to the House of Lords|creation=under the House of Lords Act 1999|years=2021–present}}
{{s-inc}}
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{{Current barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom}}
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Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom