Richard Gerald Lyon-Dalberg-Acton, 4th Baron Acton and Baron Acton of Bridgnorth was a British Labour politician.
Background
The oldest son of John Lyon-Dalberg-Acton and Daphne Strutt, daughter of Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh, he was educated at Street George"s College in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) and at Trinity College, Oxford, from which he emerged with a Bachelor of Arts in 1963 (later, he would receive a Master of Arts from the same institution).
Education
Trinity College; Street George"s College, Harare.
Career
He served a term as director of Coutts & Company before being admitted to Inner Temple in 1976 and practising law for about four years. He then served as a Senior Law Officer of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs of Zimbabwe from 1981 until 1985. He became the 4th Baron Acton, as well as 11th Baronet of Aldenham in 1989, upon his father"s death.
He lost his seat in the House of Lords after the passage of the House of Lords Acting 1999, which he notably supported.
However, on 17 April 2000, he was created a life peer as Baron Acton of Bridgnorth, of Aldenham in the County of Shropshire, enabling him to return to the House. Lord Acton sat on the Labour benches and served on the Constitution Committee and on the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills.