Lord Ezra 1919–2015 Tributes have been paid to Lord Ezra, a former vice-president of the then Trading Standards Institute and the oldest sitting peer in the House of Lords, who died on 22 December 2015, aged 96. Obituary Best known for his 35-year career in the coal industry, chairing the National Coal Board for more than a decade, Lord Ezra was a vice- president of the institute from 1990 to 2001. His support for the Greater London Branch of the now Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) is a particular honour that many branch members will remember. Chris Armstrong, branch secretary, said: ‘Lord Ezra had a close involvement with the Greater London Branch of CTSI, as he sponsored several of our high-profile meetings and lunches in the 1990s. ‘He was the first of several sponsors of these events to actually escort members from the Moses room, where the meetings were held, to the Cholmondeley room, for the lunch. ‘We were always delighted to hear his personal “tour information” about the House and see some of the areas we were perhaps not supposed to see. ‘No-one dared stop Lord Ezra on his “walkabouts” and older branch members have fond memories of those days.’ Derek Ezra was born on 23 February 1919, and was educated at Monmouth School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was senior scholar and graduated with a first-class degree in history. While at Cambridge, he joined the Liberal Party. At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the army as a gunner and was demobbed with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then joined the newly nationalised coal board’s marketing division before steadily rising up the ranks. He was made an MBE in 1945, knighted in 1974 and appointed a life peer in 1983. In the House of Lords, he sat on the Liberal benches and contributed to debates about energy and the economy. Leon Livermore, chief executive of CTSI, said the institute had been privileged to receive Lord Ezra’s support and offered his condolences to his family. Contributed by CTSI Credits Images: Keystone / Getty Images To share this page, click on in the toolbar