[2] He attended primary school on the west coast of Scotland during the Second World War, where his father served in the Royal Air Force, and the family lived at Culzean Castle.
[3] He served his National Service in the Royal Navy on submarines and later worked on a coffee farm in Kenya.
[3] After unsuccessfully contesting West Ham North in 1964, Brocklebank-Fowler entered Parliament as a Conservative at the 1970 general election, representing the constituency of King's Lynn.
[4] In 1981 Brocklebank-Fowler defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), crossing the floor during a parliamentary debate on the budget.
In 1996 he joined the Labour Party, saying that he was prompted by Tony Blair's "determination to pursue constitutional reform, efficient economic management, and fairer social provision which alone can restore One Nation".