[1][2] Rost's parents, Friedrich Rosenstiel and Elisabeth Merz, were a mixed-marriage German Jew and Lutheran couple living in Berlin during the Nazi era.
Their marriage was annulled and they escaped to the United Kingdom in 1937 before the international border was closed to Jews.
He held that seat until the constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, when he was returned to the House of Commons for the new Erewash.
In the 1970s, he warned of the use of gas for power production, as it was wasting the precious North Sea assets.
[5][6][7] Rost was portrayed by Julian Firth in the 2004 BBC production of The Alan Clark Diaries.