He was educated at Eton College and St Paul's School, New Hampshire, in the US.

He was a nephew of Sir Anthony Eden (1897–1977), who served as prime minister from 1955 to 1957, and he succeeded his father Sir Timothy Calvert Eden to his baronetcies in 1963.

After unsuccessfully contesting the 1953 Paddington North by-election, Eden was first elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth West at the 1954 Bournemouth West by-election, which he would continue to represent from 1954 until 1983.

He was appointed to the Privy Council on 10 April 1972 and was created a life peer as Baron Eden of Winton, of Rushyford in the County of Durham on 3 October 1983,[4] following his retirement from the House of Commons.

[5] Following the death of Lord Healey on 3 October 2015, Eden became the oldest surviving former MP with the earliest date of first election.