Razzall qualified as a solicitor in 1969 and worked for Frere Cholmeley (later Frere Cholmeley Bischoff), becoming a partner in 1973, and chief executive in 1990 before leaving in 1995 to set up his own corporate finance business (Argonaut Associates).[2] Frere Cholmeley Bischoff encountered financial difficulties and dissolved shortly after his departure, for which some blame was attributed to Razzall.[3]
From 2000 to 2006, he was chair of the Liberal Democrats' Campaigns and Communications Committee. Along with Lord Rennard, he was responsible for running the Liberal Democrats' election campaigns. He stepped down from this post in May 2006, saying he wanted a change and to give his successor a chance to settle into the role before the 2010 general election.
A former House of Lords Liberal Democrat Spokesman on Trade and Industry and Treasurer of the All Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group in Parliament, he now serves on various parliamentary committees.
Personal life
Razzall married first in 1965 (divorced 1974) Elizabeth Christina née Wilkinson, and they had a daughter, journalist Katie Razzall, and a son, James Razzall. Through his marriage in 1982 (dissolved 2003) to Deirdre Martineaunée Taylor-Smith, he became step-father to her two sons and two daughters.[7] In 2008 he was reported to be the partner of Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury.[8] Bonham-Carter has declared the relationship in the House of Lords Register of Interests.[9]
Memoirs
His memoirs, Chance Encounters, were published in October 2014.[10]
Controversy
Lord Razzall attracted criticism in 2008 when it was revealed that he and his partner, Jane Bonham-Carter, a fellow life peer, had both claimed House of Lords expenses for a flat that they shared, although it was not claimed that a breach of the rules had occurred.[8] The House of Lords expenses system was later changed to give peers a flat rate irrespective of their residence.[11]