Former Father of the House Sir Peter Tapsell dies
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Former Conservative MP and Father of the House Sir Peter Tapsell has died, aged 88.
The ex-Tory MP served continuously from 1966 to 2015, when he resigned his Louth and Horncastle seat.
He was also the MP for Nottingham West from 1959 until he lost the seat in 1964.
Sir Peter was a staunch critic of the EU throughout his Parliamentary career, and was part of the group of Conservative rebels who opposed the 1993 Maastricht Treaty.
Former Tory party chair Eric Pickles paid tribute to his ex-colleague on Twitter, describing him as a “formidable contributor” to Commons debates.
He added: “I doubt we will see his like again.”
Chair of the Louth and Horncastle Conservative Association, Craig Leyland, described Sir Peter as loyal and unafraid to speak his mind.
Sir Peter served under nine Conservative leaders and became Father of the House in 2010 under David Cameron.
His career was largely spent on the backbenches, with the exception of a brief stint as an opposition treasury spokesman under Margaret Thatcher, which he later described as the “single biggest mistake” of his political life.
