Bill Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank

The Right Honourable The Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank PC
Official portrait, 2019
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords
In office 19 December 1997 – 7 June 2001
Leader	Paddy Ashdown Charles Kennedy
Preceded by	The Lord Jenkins of Hillhead
Succeeded by	The Baroness Williams of Crosby
Secretary of State for Transport
In office 10 September 1976 – 4 May 1979
Prime Minister	James Callaghan
Preceded by	John Gilbert
Succeeded by	Norman Fowler
Junior ministerial offices Minister of State for Defence In office 4 March 1974 – 10 September 1976 Prime Minister Harold Wilson James Callaghan Sec. of State Roy Mason Fred Mulley Preceded by George Younger Succeeded by John Gilbert Minister of State for the Treasury In office 13 October 1969 – 19 June 1970 Prime Minister Harold Wilson Chancellor Roy Jenkins Preceded by Dick Taverne Succeeded by Terence Higgins Minister of State for the Board of Trade In office 1 July 1968 – 13 October 1969 Prime Minister Harold Wilson President Anthony Crosland Roy Mason Preceded by Edmund Dell Succeeded by Goronwy Roberts Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs In office 7 January 1967 – 3 July 1968 Prime Minister Harold Wilson Sec. of State George Brown Michael Stewart Preceded by The Lord Walston Succeeded by Maurice Foley (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs In office 21 October 1964 – 7 January 1967 Serving with Maurice Foley (1964–1966) Prime Minister Harold Wilson Sec. of State George Brown Michael Stewart Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Harold Lever Peter Shore
Shadow cabinet offices Shadow Secretary of State for Defence In office 14 June 1979 – 8 December 1980 Leader James Callaghan Michael Foot Shadowing Francis Pym Preceded by Fred Mulley Succeeded by Brynmor John Shadow Secretary of State for Transport In office 4 May 1979 – 14 June 1979 Leader James Callaghan Shadowing Norman Fowler Preceded by Norman Fowler Succeeded by Albert Booth
Parliamentary offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal In office 12 February 1992 – 12 December 2023 Life peerage Member of Parliament for Stockton-on-Tees In office 6 April 1962 – 13 May 1983 Preceded by George Chetwynd Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1928-10-28) 28 October 1928 (age 96) Liverpool, England
Political party	Liberal Democrats (1988–present)
Other political affiliations	Labour (before 1981) SDP (1981–1988)
Spouse	Silvia Szulman ​ ​ (m. 1955; died 2006)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford

William Thomas Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank, PC (born 28 October 1928)^[1] is a British politician and life peer. As a Labour Party member of Parliament, he served as Secretary of State for Transport from 1976 to 1979, and was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior Labour politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He subsequently helped to lead the SDP into the merger that formed the Liberal Democrats in 1988, and later served as the party's leader in the House of Lords between 1997 and 2001.