Malcolm Kenneth Murray, 12th Earl of Dunmore

On the death of his father, Malcolm Murray, the 12th Earl of Dunmore, succeeded to the hereditary peerage. From the day that the Earl, a native-born Australian, arrived on British soil for the first time in November 1998 he made headlines around the world. It caused a great deal of controversy and media attention in the UK. The press growled their disapproval with headlines like "Let's Can Lord Pineapple" in the Glasgow Daily Record (a reference to an ancestor who brought the then-exotic pineapple to Britain). He had not intended to make the trip for another couple of years but changed his mind when advised that Britain’s parliament was preparing to vote to abolish hereditary peers' 700-year-old right to sit and vote in the House of Lords, and in the months leading up to the vote he was advised not to wait until Tony Blair's Labour government’s House of Lords Bill became law in 1999. This was enough to spur him to fly from his home in Tasmania to take his seat in the House of Lords for the first time, make a maiden speech, and attend the State Opening of Parliament before the chance to secure his spot was lost forever. He explained his action as a sentimental gesture to his forebears and a recognition of his heritage.