Peter Bottomley

Sir Peter Bottomley
Official portrait, 2020
Father of the House of Commons
In office 13 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Speaker	Sir Lindsay Hoyle
Preceded by	Kenneth Clarke
Succeeded by	Sir Edward Leigh
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 4 July 1989 – 28 July 1990
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Peter Viggers
Succeeded by	The Lord Skelmersdale
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
In office 23 January 1986 – 24 July 1989
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	Michael Spicer
Succeeded by	Patrick McLoughlin
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment
In office 11 September 1984 – 23 January 1986
Prime Minister	Margaret Thatcher
Preceded by	John Gummer
Succeeded by	David Trippier
Member of Parliament for Worthing West
In office 1 May 1997 – 30 May 2024
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Beccy Cooper
Member of Parliament for Eltham (1983–1997) Woolwich West (1975–1983)
In office 26 June 1975 – 8 April 1997
Preceded by	William Hamling
Succeeded by	Clive Efford
Personal details
Born	(1944-07-30) 30 July 1944 (age 80) Newport, Shropshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Virginia Garnett ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	3
Parents	Sir James Bottomley (father) Barbara née Vardon (mother)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Website	www.sirpeterbottomley.com
Bottomley's voice from the BBC programme Front Row, 25 April 2013[1]

Sir Peter James Bottomley (born 30 July 1944) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1975 until 2024, last representing Worthing West.

First elected at a by-election for the former constituency of Woolwich West, he served as its MP until its abolition at the 1983 general election, and then for Eltham its successor constituency, until 1997. He was then selected to contest Worthing West at the 1997 general election, being returned seven times before losing to Labour's Beccy Cooper at the 2024 general election.

Following the 2019 general election, Bottomley became the longest-serving MP being styled Father of the House for the duration of that parliament. He then became the first Father to be unseated rather than retire or die in post.^[2]