James Meston, 3rd Baron Meston

The Right Honourable The Lord Meston KC
Official portrait, 2023
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as an elected hereditary peer 26 September 2023
Preceded by	The 4th Baron Palmer
as a hereditary peer 2 January 1984 – 11 November 1999
Preceded by	The 2nd Baron Meston
Succeeded by	Seat abolished
Personal details
Born	James Meston (1950-02-10) 10 February 1950
Political party	Crossbench
Parent(s)	Dougall Meston, 2nd Baron Meston

James Meston, 3rd Baron Meston KC (born 10 February 1950) is a British hereditary peer, a lawyer, and a crossbench member of the House of Lords.

Legal career

Before succeeding to his family title, the Hon. James Meston (as he then was) was called to the Bar in 1973 and practiced as a barrister until 1999, mainly in family law. He took silk in 1996.

Lord Meston was then a Circuit Judge in the Central Family Court from 2000 to 2020, known under the judicial title 'His Honour James Meston KC'. After he retired, he continued to sit as a deputy circuit judge. His chambers are in the Queen Elizabeth Building in Middle Temple.

House of Lords

Lord Meston succeeded to his family title in 1984, and sat in the House of Lords, as a member of the Liberal Democrats, until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, which excluded all but 92 hereditary peers.

He made his maiden speech in May 1984 in favour of the Child Abduction Bill. He is recorded in Hansard as having made 779 contributions before his exclusion in 1999.

He returned to the upper chamber after being elected in a Crossbencher by-election in September 2023, taking the room of Adrian, Lord Palmer.

According to his candidature statement, his legislative interests include children, domestic abuse, and divorce.