Paddy Ashdown

The Right Honourable The Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon
Chair of the Liberal Democrat General Election Committee
In office 26 September 2012 – 7 May 2015
Leader	Nick Clegg
Preceded by	Willie Rennie (2010, Campaigns and Communications Chair)
Succeeded by	Greg Mulholland (Campaigns and Communications Chair)
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 27 May 2002 – 30 May 2006
Preceded by	Wolfgang Petritsch
Succeeded by	Christian Schwarz-Schilling
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
In office 16 July 1988 – 11 August 1999
Deputy	Russell Johnston Alan Beith
President	Ian Wrigglesworth Charles Kennedy Robert Maclennan Baroness Maddock
Preceded by	David Steel (Liberal Party) Robert Maclennan (SDP)
Succeeded by	Charles Kennedy
Member of Parliament for Yeovil
In office 9 June 1983 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	John Peyton
Succeeded by	David Laws
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 10 July 2001 Life Peerage – 22 December 2018
Personal details
Born	Jeremy John Durham Ashdown 27 February 1941(1941-02-27) New Delhi, British Raj (now New Delhi, India)
Died	22 December 2018(2018-12-22) (aged 77) Norton-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse(s)	Jane Courtenay (m. 1962–present) «start: (1962)»"Marriage: Jane Courtenay to Paddy Ashdown" Location: (linkback:https://wiki.kidzsearch.com/wiki/Paddy_Ashdown)
Children	2
Alma mater	Bedford School
Awards	Naval General Service Medal (1915-62) Borneo Clasp General Service Medal (1962-2007) Northern Ireland Clasp
Website	www.parliament.uk
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Marines
Years of service	1959–1972
Rank	Captain
Unit	Special Boat Service
Battles/wars	Indonesian Confrontation Operation Banner

Jeremy John Durham 'Paddy' Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon GCMG CH KBE PC (27 February 1941 – 22 December 2018) was a British politician and international diplomat. He was the leader of the Liberal Democrats from July 1988 to August 1999.

Biography

Paddy Ashdown was born in New Delhi, British India, but was brought up in Northern Ireland and his Irish accent brought him the nickname 'Paddy'. He served in the Royal Marines from 1959 to 1972 and saw fighting in Borneo, Hong Kong and Northern Ireland. At the 1983 General Election, Paddy Ashdown became the Liberal Party Member of Parliament for the constituency of Yeovil.

In 1988, when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democrats, Ashdown was elected the leader of the new party and led the party through the 1992 and 1997 General Elections. He resigned in 1999 and was given both a knighthood and a seat in the House of Lords. In the House of Lords, he was given the name Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon. From 2002 to 2006 he was the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

His reputation was damaged slightly in 1992, when it was revealed that he had a five-month extra-marital affair with his secretary and many British newspapers exposed this in great detail. The Sun newspaper ran a famous headline which played on Ashdown's name, calling him 'Paddy Pants-Down'.

Ashdown was diagnosed with "serious" bladder cancer in October 2018. He died two months later on 22 December 2018 from the disease in Norton-sub-Hamdon, Somerset, aged 77.