John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute

Born in Rothesay, Argyll and Bute, into one of Scotland's oldest aristocratic families and the descendant of a British Prime Minister, Bute was heir to a large fortune. He turned his back on an expensive education at Ampleforth College and set about pursuing a career in motor racing.[2]

In 1984, Bute, then known as Johnny Dumfries, was the sensation of the F3 season, scoring 14 race victories on his way to winning, and completely dominating, the British Formula 3 Championship for Team BP (Dave Price Racing). He also finished runner-up to Ivan Capelli in the European Formula Three Championship that year. In 1985, he graduated to the newly created FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, initially competing for Onyx Race Engineering before switching to Lola Motorsport. It was a disappointing season, with a sixth-place finish in Vallelunga being the highlight of the year.

In 1986 he made his breakthrough into F1, and raced a single season for the JPS Team Lotus. He was a late addition to the team, apparently as a result of Ayrton Senna not wanting Derek Warwick as a teammate.[2] He competed in 15 Grands Prix for Lotus (not qualifying at Monaco), which used the turbocharged Renault engines and scored 3 championship points.[3]

He was replaced for 1987 by the Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima as part of Lotus's deal to use Honda engines from that season onwards. During most of the 1986 season he was usually one of the midfield drivers, on par with the Tyrrell drivers Martin Brundle and Philippe Streiff.

In 1988, Bute scored the biggest racing victory of his career when he won the Le Mans 24 Hours, driving a Jaguar XJR-9 for Tom Walkinshaw's Silk Cut Jaguar Team alongside Dutchman Jan Lammers and Englishman Andy Wallace.[4]

Bute also participated in the 1-hour endurance race in the 1988 British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park with fellow ex-F1 Briton Guy Edwards for Andy Rouse's Kaliber Racing team in Ford Sierra RS500, finishing third overall and in Class A.

He ranked 616th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, with an estimated wealth of £125m. In the 2006 list, he ranked 26th in Scotland with £122m.

He lives with his family in London and at the ancestral seat Mount Stuart House, 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. In December 2020 he was charged with breaching COVID-19 regulations for allegedly travelling with others to his Isle of Bute home.[5][6]

In 2007, the other family home Dumfries House in Cumnock, Ayrshire, was sold to the nation for £45 million.[7]

In 1984, he married Carolyn, daughter of Bryson and Rose Waddell. They were divorced in 1993. They have three children:

• Lady Caroline Crichton-Stuart (b. 26 September 1984)
• Lady Cathleen Crichton-Stuart (b. 14 September 1986)
• John Bryson Crichton-Stuart, Earl of Dumfries (b. 21 December 1989)

He married secondly the fashion designer Serena Solitaire Wendell,[8] daughter of Major Jac Wendell and former wife of Robert De Lisser, on 13 February 1999.[8] They have one child:

• Lady Lola Affrica Crichton-Stuart (b. 1999)

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Bute