Major General John Mark Lancaster, Baron Lancaster of Kimbolton, [2] TD , VR , PC (born 12 May 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician, a Member of the House of Lords and a British Army reserve officer, who has served as Director Reserves since October 2023.
He previously served as Member of Parliament for North East Milton Keynes from 2005 until 2010, and then its successor seat Milton Keynes North from the seat's creation at the 2010 general election until his retirement from the House of Commons at the 2019 general election. He served as a Minister in several appointments after the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, first as Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's Treasury, before in May 2015 moving to the Ministry of Defence, first as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Veterans, Reserves and Personnel, and then, from 13 June 2017, as Minister of State for the Armed Forces. He served in this role until his retirement from Government on 16 December 2019. He was granted a life peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours, and was created "Baron Lancaster of Kimbolton" on 16 September 2020. He was introduced to the House of Lords on 12 October 2020.
Lancaster was born on 12 May 1970 in Cambridge. He was privately educated at Kimbolton School in Huntingdonshire where his father Ronald Lancaster was chaplain from 1963–88. [3] He graduated as a BSc in Business Studies from the University of Buckingham in 1992 and MBA from the University of Exeter Business School in 1993. [4] [5]
He was a company director for the family firm Kimbolton Fireworks before he was elected to Parliament. [5]
Lancaster served on Huntingdonshire District Council between 1995 and 1999. [6] [5]
Lancaster stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for Nuneaton at the 2001 general election. He was defeated by the Labour incumbent Bill Olner.
Lancaster was elected as Member of Parliament gaining North East Milton Keynes for the Conservatives in the 2005 general election, and succeeding Brian White of the Labour Party.
Between 2005 and 2010 he served in Opposition, first as an Opposition Whip in 2006–2007, before moving to be the Shadow Minister for International Development in 2007 until the 2010 General Election.
During his time as a backbench MP, He served on the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Select Committee, (2005), Defence Select Committee (2006), [7] Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (2008–09) and the International Development Select Committee (2009–10). [8]
After his re-election in 2010 and the formation of the Coalition Government, he was initially appointed as the PPS to the Secretary of State for International Development, [9] From 2012 to 2015, he was a government whip and a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. [5] He then moved to the Ministry of Defence where he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel (2015–2017) and Minister for the Armed Forces (2017–2019). [5]
In November 2019, he announced his retirement from the House of Commons. [10]
Lancaster was nominated for a peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours. [11] On 16 September 2020, he was created Baron Lancaster of Kimbolton by Queen Elizabeth II. [12] He was Introduced to the House of Lords on 12 October 2020, and sits in the House as a Conservative Party life peer. [13] He made his maiden speech on 27 October 2020, while expressing regret that as a bomb disposal expert and with his family ties to fireworks making, that it didn't occur on 5 November. [14]
He was appointed as a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on 9 November 2021. He was elected Chair of the Defence and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly at the 70th Annual Session held in Montreal 22–25 November 2024.
Lancaster was appointed as the Government's Defence Security Advocate on 25 January 2023. The role was established to help drive UK Defence exports and involves engagement with both UK Industry leaders and foreign Government Ministers. He was reappointed in the role by the incoming Labour Government on 9 January 2025.
Lancaster has stated his disagreement with the UK Government's policy on the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In an interview with the BBC, he stated "It may well be much harder to get the British public to back other overseas adventures by the military because of what's happened in Iraq". [15] Lancaster voted against legislation allowing gay couples to marry at the Bill's second reading, but supported minor 'tidying up' legislation supporting the principle once the main Bill had passed through the House of Commons. [16] He later tweeted in July 2016 that he had been wrong to have opposed the second reading.[ citation needed ]
In 2011 Lancaster introduced his own private member's bill, which enabled special Olympic 1 kg gold and silver coins to be struck by the Royal Mint as part of the 2012 Olympic legacy. In 2013 Lancaster was successful in his four-year campaign to get Khat classified as a category C drug following calls from his constituents.[ citation needed ]
Lancaster was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers on 4 December 1988, holding a Short-Service Limited Commission (SSLC). [17] Between 1988 and 1990 Lancaster served in the British Army on an extended SSLC in Hong Kong with the Queen's Gurkha Engineers before going to university. On 1 March 1990, he transferred his commission to the Army Reserve and was promoted lieutenant on 1 July 1991. [18] He was promoted captain on 1 June 1997 (seniority from 16 October 1995), [19] with promotion to major on 13 May 2004 (seniority from 1 March 2002). [20] and commanded an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.[ citation needed ]
Lancaster was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 February 2012 and to colonel on 22 June 2017. [21] [22] at which point he joined the General Staff Corps (late Royal Engineers) and became Deputy Commander of 77th Brigade from 2018 [23] to July 2020. He was appointed Chair of the Reserve Forces 2030 review in January 2020.[ citation needed ]
He was promoted to brigadier on 1 August 2020. [24] serving as Deputy Director Joint Warfare at UK's Strategic Command [25] until August 2023. It was announced in June 2023 that he would be appointed to be Director Reserves, which position he assumed on 3 October 2023 in the rank of Major General. [26]
Operational Service
Lancaster has been on active service three times, in Kosovo (1999–2000), Bosnia (2001–2002) and Afghanistan (2006). [27]
Honorary Appointments
He was appointed as the Deputy Colonel Commandant Brigade of Gurkhas on 1 September 2019, [28] and Honorary Colonel of the Cayman Islands Regiment on 2 July 2021. [29] He was appointed a Colonel Commandant of the Royal Engineers on 1 October 2023. [30]
Long Service Awards
He received the Territorial Decoration (TD) in 2002 and the Volunteer Reserves Service Medal (VR) in 2011. He was awarded a bar to the latter medal for a further five years service in 2016 and a second bar for a further five years service in 2021.
Lancaster lives in Gosport with his wife, Conservative MP for Gosport Dame Caroline Dinenage. [31] He previously married Katherine Reader 1995 before separating in 2006 and divorcing in 2009. He briefly partnered Amanda Evans with whom he has a daughter. In February 2014, he married Caroline Dinenage, who had also been previously married. [32] [33] Lancaster is a supporter of MK Dons, and enjoys playing cricket, which includes the House of Commons team. [34]
He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham in 2008. [4] [5] [25] [35]
Ribbon | Description | Notes |
![]() | NATO Medal for Kosovo |
|
![]() | NATO Former Republic of Yugoslavia Medal |
|
![]() | OSM for Afghanistan |
|
![]() | Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal |
|
![]() | Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal |
|
![]() | Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal |
|
![]() | King Charles III Coronation Medal |
|
![]() | Efficiency Decoration (TD) |
|
![]() | Volunteer Reserves Service Medal |
|
Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton, was a British geographer, Royal Air Force officer and Labour Party politician.
Henry Campbell Bellingham, Baron Bellingham is a British Conservative politician who sits in the House of Lords and former barrister. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Norfolk in 1983. He lost his seat in 1997, but regained it in 2001 and retained it until standing down in 2019.
Sir Julian William Hendy Brazier is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Canterbury from 1987 to 2017. Since 2019, he has served as the President of Catholics in the Conservative Party.
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secretary from 1979 to 1982, chairman of the General Electric Company from 1983 to 1984, and Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. In Margaret Thatcher's first government, he played a major role in negotiating the Lancaster House Agreement that ended the conflict in Rhodesia and enabled the creation of Zimbabwe. Carrington later served as the Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Bilderberg Group's meetings from 1990 to 1998.
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for Crawley from 1983 to 1997.
Mark Gino Francois is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Defence since 2024.
Roger Norman Freeman, Baron Freeman, PC, is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major from 1995 to 1997. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Kettering from 1983 to 1997, and was made a life peer in 1997.
Frederick Edgar Dinenage is a British author, broadcaster and television presenter. His television career has spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme How and ITV's regional programming in the south of England. Dinenage retired from presenting regional news on ITV Meridian on 16 December 2021, after 38 years as a news anchor.
Buckingham was a constituency that was last represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Greg Smith, a Conservative.
Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon,, is a British politician who has served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household since 4 November 2024. He previously was Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy from 2023 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Newbury from 2005 to 2019.
Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres, Baron Balniel,, known by courtesy as Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, was a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician who was a member of Parliament from 1955 to 1974. He was chief of Clan Lindsay and also acted, from 1975 to 2019, as Premier Earl of Scotland.
Milton Keynes North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2024 general election by Chris Curtis for the Labour Party.
Bertram Stanley Mitford Bowyer, 2nd Baron Denham, was a British Conservative politician, hereditary peer, writer and member of the House of Lords. He was one of the few people to serve in the governments of five different prime ministers.
Andrew Elliot Pakes is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Peterborough since 2024. He previously served as the President of the National Union of Students (NUS).
Ian McColl, Baron McColl of Dulwich,, is a British surgeon, professor, politician and Conservative member of the House of Lords. McColl was made a life peer for his work for disabled people in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1989, which was gazetted on 29 July 1989 with the style and title of Baron McColl of Dulwich, of Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister John Major from 1994 to 1997 for which he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1997.
Iain Aitken Stewart is a British Conservative Party politician and former accountant. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Milton Keynes South from 2010 until the seat's abolition in 2024.
Caroline Julia Dinenage, Baroness Lancaster of Kimbolton,, also styled as Dame Caroline Dinenage, is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport since 2010.
Major James Stephen Heappey is a British politician and former soldier who served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2020 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells in Somerset from 2015 to 2024.
The Reverend Ronald Lancaster is an English Anglican clergyman, chemist, businessman and retired teacher, having taught chemistry at Kimbolton School from 1963 to 1988. He is a fireworks manufacturer, having founded and remained owner of Kimbolton Fireworks, the last manufacturer of fireworks in the UK before their closure in February 2019.
Benjamin William Everitt is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Milton Keynes North from 2019 to 2024.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty |url=
(help)