Derek Spencer

Sir Derek Harold Spencer (31 March 1936 – 19 May 2023) was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He was Member of Parliament for Leicester South from 1983 to 1987 and for Brighton Pavilion from 1992 to 1997. During his latter term in Parliament, he was also Solicitor General for England and Wales.

Education and career Born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, on 31 March 1936, he was educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford. He served as a lieutenant in the King's Own Royal Regiment from 1954 to 1956. He became a barrister in 1961 and took silk as a QC in 1980.

Spencer was a Master of the Bench, Gray's Inn. He became a bencher in 1991. After joining the chambers of Michael Havers, he was a barrister in the South Eastern Circuit. Spencer resigned from Camden council after he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Leicester South constituency in the Conservative landslide of 1983, The Daily Telegraph described his politics as "robustly right-wing".