David Digby Rendel (born April 15 1949) is a British politician. He was a Member of Parliament for Newbury for the Liberal Democrats from 1993, when he won the by-election caused by the death of Judith Chaplin, until 2005, when he lost to Conservative candidate Richard Benyon. At the time he lost his seat he was the Liberal Democrats' spokesperson on Higher and Further Education. During May 2006, Rendel was selected by local party members as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Newbury seat for the next election.

Rendel was a Newbury District Councillor 1987-95. He won the by-election in 1993 with a massive majority of 22,055. Unlike some other Conservative by-election losses during the same parliament, tactical voting by Labour voters can have played little role in the result, as the Labour candidate at the preceding 1992 general election had secured only 6% of the vote. The drop in the Labour vote accounted for only a small fraction of Rendel's margin of victory in the by-election.

He was member of the University of Oxford boat race crew of 1974.

External links

• David Rendel official site
• David Rendel profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
• Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - David Rendel
• TheyWorkForYou.com - David Rendel
• The Public Whip - David Rendel voting record
• BBC News - David Rendel profile 10 February, 2005

1949 births | Living people | British MPs | Newbury, Berkshire | Old Etonians | UK Liberal Democrat politicians | Old Etonians | Councillors in South East England