Reginald Paget, Baron Paget of Northampton

The son of Major Guy Paget, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read law, but did not graduate.

[1] Paget joined the Labour Party whilst he was an undergraduate at Cambridge, a decision made striking by the fact that his family had produced five generations of Conservative MPs.

[1] During his tenure in the House of Commons, he was an independent voice, playing a major role in the campaign to abolish capital punishment.

He was a strong opponent of the execution of Derek Bentley and argued for Timothy Evans to be posthumously pardoned for the murder of his child (a crime widely believed to have been committed by John Christie).

[2][4] Paget was said to be the slowest speaker in the House of Commons and was master of the Pytchley Hunt from 1968 to 1971, an unusual position for a Labour MP.