28 Facts About Peter Bottomley

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

Peter Bottomley 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.

Peter Bottomley then became the first Father to be unseated rather than retire or die in post.

Peter Bottomley's supervisor was James Mirrlees, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics.

Peter Bottomley joined the Conservative Party in 1972, at the age of 28.

Peter Bottomley contested the Vauxhall constituency at the 1973 GLC election and Woolwich West parliamentary seat at the February and October general elections of 1974, failing to defeat the sitting Labour MP William Hamling.

Hamling died on 20 March 1975, and in the space of 18 months, Peter Bottomley faced the electors of Woolwich West for a third time at the by-election on 26 June 1975.

From 1978 Peter Bottomley served as the President of the Conservative Trade Unionists for two years, Peter Bottomley becoming a Trustee of Christian Aid in 1978 until 1984.

Peter Bottomley was for some years a member of the Conservative Monday Club as well as a member of the Bow Group and Tory Reform Group.

Chairman of the Church of England's Children's Society, a Trustee of Mind and of Nacro and a policy committee member of One Parent Families, Peter Bottomley served with Dr John Sentamu on the successor committee to the Archbishop of Canterbury's commission that produced the report Faith in the City, and chaired the Churches' Review Group on the Churches' Main Committee.

Peter Bottomley was a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee and served as the Parliamentary Warden of St Margaret's Church, Westminster.

Peter Bottomley led the United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Peter Bottomley is an Honorary Vice-President of WATCH, supporting full equal acceptance of females.

In 1982, Peter Bottomley was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Cranley Onslow.

Peter Bottomley joined Margaret Thatcher's government being appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Employment in 1984, moving sideways to the Department of Transport in 1986 to become the Minister of Roads and Traffic; he opened many news roads as Minister, including the Bulwick A43 Bypass in April 1986.

Peter Bottomley was dropped by Thatcher in 1990, when he briefly became PPS to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Brooke.

Since 1990, Peter Bottomley served as a backbencher, being described as a maverick, "supporting a range of seemingly perverse causes".

Peter Bottomley decided not to re-contest Eltham after major boundary changes.

In 2009, Peter Bottomley was elected Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Flag Group, and by 2011, he served on more parliamentary groups than any other MP.

Peter Bottomley was Vice-Chairman of the All-Party United Nations Group as well as of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Transport Safety.

At the 2016 referendum, Peter Bottomley supported the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union.

An advocate for reducing the voting age to 16, Peter Bottomley was a co-founder and Vice-Chairman of the now defunct Votes at 16 APPG in support of the Votes at 16 campaign.

Peter Bottomley co-chaired the APPG on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood, campaigning to get justice for those affected by the tainted blood scandal.

In 1967, Peter Bottomley married Virginia Garnett who later became a Cabinet Minister, then created a Life Peeress in 2005 as Baroness Peter Bottomley of Nettlestone.

Peter Bottomley's niece is Kitty Ussher, the economist, formerly a Labour MP and Minister.

Peter Bottomley's nephew is HHJ Silas James Reid, known for sentencing climate protestors.

In 1989, Peter Bottomley successfully sued The Mail on Sunday, the Daily Express and News of the World for allegations connected with his support of the union membership of a social worker in his constituency accused of misbehaviour in a children's home.

Sir Peter Bottomley was knighted in the 2011 New Year Honours for public service.