Born in
Nottingham in May 1932, Lester first stood for Parliament in
a by-election at
Bassetlaw in 1968, when he almost overturned a
Labour majority of 10,428 votes, failing to beat
Joe Ashton by just 740 votes. He contested the seat again at the
1970 general election, but Ashton stretched his advantage to 8,261 votes. He was
member of parliament (MP) for
Beeston between
February 1974 and
1983, then for
Broxtowe until the
1997 election, when he
lost his seat to Labour. During his time in the
House of Commons, he served as a
party whip and a junior employment minister. Lester died on 31 October 2021, at the age of 89. == References ==