Richard Denison, 9th Baron Londesborough

The Right Honourable The Lord Londesborough
Lord Londesborough in 2021, official photo
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a hereditary peer 8 April 1996 – 11 November 1999
Preceded by	The 8th Baron Londesborough
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Incumbent
as an elected hereditary peer 23 June 2021
Preceded by	The 31st Countess of Mar
Personal details
Born	Richard John Denison (1959-07-02) 2 July 1959
Political party	None (crossbench)

Richard John Denison, 9th Baron Londesborough (born 2 July 1959), is an entrepreneur, investor in start-ups and Crossbench member of the House of Lords.

Early life

Londesborough was a journalist and foreign correspondent in Iran (1978) and Mexico (1982) before setting up from his kitchen table a specialist informational service, Latin America Monitor, with fellow journalist Jonathan Feroze in 1984.

Londesborough and Feroze built up the company (rebranded BMI Research in 1991) into a global country risk platform, employing 300 staff across five continents, with the backing in 2009 of Boston-based Spectrum Equity Partners. They sold the company in 2014 to the Fitch Group.  

They set up Sevenex Capital Partners in 2015, providing early stage equity to entrepreneurs across a range of sectors, including B2B media, film, theatre, food & drink, pet care and fintech – including the Social Value Portal, FX Loop, Borrowmydoggy, Loving Vincent and Wipers Times.

Londesborough also became Chairman of information provider Tussell Limited in 2021.   

Political career

Londesborough took his seat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords in 1999, and made his maiden/valedictory speech just one week before being excluded by the House of Lords Act 1999.

He became a member of the Lords again in June 2021, having being elected by the whole House in a by-election following the retirement of The Countess of Mar. After a gap of 22 years, Lord Londesborough spoke again in the Lords, touching on his first maiden speech and foreign aid on 27 October 2021.

He speaks regularly on the economy, business, entrepreneurship, sport and small and medium enterprises, and was appointed to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee in 2023.

He caused controversy in 2023 during a debate on artificial intelligence, by raising the prospect that members of the House of Lords might be replaced by "peerbots with deeper knowledge, higher productivity and lower running costs."

Personal life

Londesborough married Rikki (née Morris) in 1987. They have a son and a daughter, and live on Richmond Hill in west London.