Thomas Lyttelton, 3rd Viscount Chandos


Thomas Orlando Lyttelton, 3rd Viscount Chandos, Baron Lyttelton of Aldershot, is a British hereditary and life peer and politician for the Labour Party.

Early life

A member of the Lyttelton family, Chandos is the elder son of Antony Lyttelton, 2nd Viscount Chandos and Caroline Lascelles, a daughter of Sir Alan Lascelles. He was educated at Eton and Worcester College, Oxford.

Career

Chandos succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1980. He initially sat on the Social Democratic Party benches, but when the party merged with the Liberals in 1988 he elected to become a member of the anti-merger 'continuing' SDP, led by David Owen, instead. Alongside Owen and several other Social Democrats, Chandos established the Social Market Foundation in 1989, becoming its first chairman. When the 'continuing' SDP collapsed a year later he decided to join the Labour Party, rather than defect to the Conservatives as many of his colleagues in the SMF did.
Chandos lost his seat in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999. However, in 2000 he was created a life peer as Baron Lyttelton of Aldershot, of Aldershot in the County of Hampshire, and was able to return to the House of Lords.

Personal life

Chandos married Arabella Sarah Lucy Bailey, daughter of John Adrian Bailey and Lady Mary Baillie-Hamilton, on 19 October 1985. They have three children: