Background
The son of Geoffrey and Marian Dent, he was born in Harlow, Essex and was educated at Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge where he gained a degree in history and economics and Worcester College, Oxford.
The son of Geoffrey and Marian Dent, he was born in Harlow, Essex and was educated at Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge where he gained a degree in history and economics and Worcester College, Oxford.
Eton College; Trinity College.
After national service in the Garhwal Rifles regiment of the Indian Army he was a colonial civil servant in Nigeria where he helped to quell unrest and became a hero to the Tiv people. He then spent the rest of his career from 1963 to 1990 as a lecturer in the Department of Politics at Keele University. In 1992 he was the Liberal Democrat General Election candidate for Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency and served as councillor for East Valley ward of Stoke-on-Trent City Council between 2002 and 2004.
