[1] Grender was educated at Putney High School,[2] an independent day school for girls in Putney in south west London, followed by Kingston College of Further Education in Kingston-upon-Thames, also in south west London.

After working as a researcher for the Liberal Democrats, Grender became a speech-writer to Paddy Ashdown in the late 1980s, being awarded a MBE in the 1996 Birthday Honours list.

[5] Grender sometimes appears on British television, espousing Liberal Democrat points of view.

[7] At the beginning of August 2013, it was announced that Grender was to become a Liberal Democrat life peer, and would be a working member of the House of Lords.

[13][14] Grender was the Liberal Democrats' Director of Communications in the run up to the 2024 United Kingdom general election in Scotland, a campaign notable for the number of attention-grabbing stunts performed by the leader Ed Davey.