Director-General of the Royal Institute of British Architects and also became Chairman of the Advertising Standards Authority. In 1987, Rodgers was chairman of the successful "Yes to Unity" campaign within the SDP in favour of merger with the Liberal Party. He became the Liberal Democrats' Lords spokesman on Home Affairs in 1994 and was its leader in the Lords between 1997 and 2001. His autobiography was titled Fourth Among Equals, reflecting his position as the least prominent of the SDP's founders. Rodgers was interviewed in 2012 as part of The History of Parliament's oral history project. Personal life In 1955, Rodgers married Silvia Szulman (1928–2006), a Berlin-born artist and writer, who became a political hostess. The couple had three daughters, Rachel, Lucy and Juliet. On 8 May 2001, Rodgers suffered a stroke at his home and was treated at the Royal Free Hospital and attended speech therapy sessions at North Middlesex Hospital for two and a half years. He said he was "very, very lucky not to have suffered any physical damage" as a result. He has since been a keen advocate for better treatment and care for stroke victims. In popular culture Rodgers was a main character in Steve Waters' 2017 play Limehouse, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse; he was portrayed by Paul Chahidi. References Bibliography External links Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank profile at the site of Liberal Democrats Recent Speeches in the Lords The Papers of Lord Rodgers of Quarry Bank held at Churchill Archives Centre |- |- |- |- |- |- 1928 births 20th-century British Army personnel Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British autobiographers British Secretaries of State Chairs of the Fabian Society Councillors in Greater London GMB (trade union)-sponsored MPs General Secretaries of the Fabian Society Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Living people Members of St Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 People educated at Quarry Bank High School British political party founders Politicians from Liverpool Secretaries of State for Transport (UK) Social Democratic Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983