Prime Minister David Cameron Children Mark Julian Asquith Political party Liberal Democrat Spouse Clare Asquith (m. 1978) | Role Diplomat Succeeding Lord Methuen Name Raymond 3rd | |
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Full Name Raymond (Benedict Bartholomew Michael)Asquith Parents Julian Asquith, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith Grandparents Raymond Asquith, Katharine Frances Horner Great-grandparents H. H. Asquith, Helen Kelsall Melland, Frances Jane Graham Horner, John Francis Fortescue Horner Similar People Clare Asquith, Dominic Asquith, Raymond Asquith, H H Asquith | ||
Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, OBE (born 24 August 1952) is a British former diplomat and hereditary peer. Styled Viscount Asquith until he succeeded to his father's peerage titles on 16 January 2011, the earldom of Oxford and Asquith was created for his paternal great-grandfather, H. H. Asquith, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
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Early life
Lord Oxford (as he is now known) is the elder son of the late 2nd Earl of Oxford and Asquith. He is named after his paternal grandfather Raymond Asquith, a scholar and Army officer, who was killed in action during the First World War.
He was educated at Farleigh School and Ampleforth College, and subsequently obtained an MA degree at Balliol College, Oxford.
Career
Raymond Asquith joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1980 as a career diplomat, serving until 1997. As well as postings in London at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and to the Cabinet Office, he served as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Moscow from 1983–85, and Counsellor at HM Embassy in Kiev from 1992–97. According to the Daily Telegraph, he was MI6 station commander in Moscow and was personally responsible for exfiltrating the KGB officer and British agent Oleg Gordievsky concealed in his car.
Asquith was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "diplomatic services" in 1992. Other family members who served as British diplomats include his father, his brother Sir Dominic Asquith (former British Ambassador to Iraq and Egypt), and his maternal grandfather Sir Michael Palairet.
He is currently a company director of the Ukrainian corporation owned by Dmytro Firtash, and is also active in various organizations working for or promoting charitable activities in the Ukraine.
In October 2014, the Earl of Oxford and Asquith was elected in the House of Lords by-election to replace the late Lord Methuen (who died in July 2014) and to sit as a Liberal Democrat, alongside his cousin Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury on the government benches (as the LibDems were then part of a coalition government) in the House of Lords.
Personal life
Married since 1978 to the author and scholar Clare Pollen (born 2 June 1951), eldest daughter of the architect Francis Anthony Baring Pollen (1926–1987) by his wife Marie Therese Sheridan (later Viscountess Sidmouth, wife of the 7th Viscount), the Earl and Countess of Oxford and Asquith have a son and four daughters.
The son, Mark Julian Asquith styled Viscount Asquith, is heir apparent to the family titles.
The senior branch of the Asquith family has been Roman Catholic since Katherine Asquith (mother of the 2nd Earl) converted after the death of her husband. Lord Oxford's mother was also a Catholic, as is his wife.