 The only son of John Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke and Rachel Wrey, Verney was educated at Le Rosey in Switzerland and at New College, Oxford where he studied modern languages (BA, then Oxbridge MA).He inherited his father's title in 1986 and is one of the 90 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999; originally elected a Conservative peer, he defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in January 2007, making him one of only four UKIP members at Westminster.Since 1992, he has been Chairman of the St Martin's Theatre Company Ltd. - the building of the St Martin's Theatre was commissioned by his grandfather.