Tony Christopher, Baron Christopher

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Christopher
CBE FRSA
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
30 July 1998
Personal details
BornAnthony Martin Grosvenor Christopher
(1925-04-25) 25 April 1925 (age 100)
Leckhampton, Gloucestershire, England
Party Labour
SpouseAdela Joy Thompson (until 2024; her death)
Alma mater

Anthony Martin Grosvenor Christopher, Baron Christopher of Leckhampton, CBE , FRSA (born 25 April 1925) is a British businessman, trade unionist, tax official, and Labour life peer. As of 2025, he is the oldest serving British parliamentarian and the only current parliamentarian to have served in the Second World War. [1]

Contents

Early life

Anthony Martin Grosvenor Christopher was born in Leckhampton, Gloucestershire, on 25 April 1925, the son of George and Helen Christopher. [2] He had a sister, Patricia. [3] In 1931, the family moved to Cheltenham, where Christopher attended Naunton Park Primary School and Cheltenham Grammar School from 1931 to 1941. [4] [3] He also studied at Westminster College of Commerce. [4]

Between 1941 and 1944, Christopher worked as an articled pupil and agricultural valuer in Gloucester. [2] From 1944 to 1948, he served in the Royal Air Force, having enlisted during the latter stages of the Second World War. [2] [1] During the war, his neighbour's house was bombed by the Luftwaffe. [5]

In the early 1950s, Christopher moved to Croydon in South London, before then moving to Kensington in West London. [3] [5] In 1948, he started a career at the Inland Revenue, where he would work his way up before departing in 1957 to work full-time for the Inland Revenue Staff Federation. [6] [5]

Trade union career

Between 1976 and 1988, Christopher was general secretary of the Inland Revenue Staff Federation. [7] Since 1981, he is director of the TU Fund Managers Ltd and since 1983 its chairman. Also since 1983, he is elected auditor of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and since 1988, he worked as Industrial and Public Affairs Consultant.

Christopher worked for NACRO from 1956 to 1998, from 1956 as member of council and from 1973 as chairman. He was member of the TUC General Council from 1976 to 1989 and its chairman in 1988 and 1989. For the Civil Service Building Society, he was director between 1958 and 1987, as well as chairman between 1978 and 1987. He was member of the Inner London Probation and After-care Committee from 1966 to 1979, of the Tax Reform Committee from 1974 to 1980 and of the Royal Commission on Distribution of Income and Wealth in 1978 and 1979. Christopher was also member of the Independent Broadcasting Authority from 1978 to 1983, of the council of the Institute of Manpower Studies from 1984 to 1989 and of the Economic and Social Research Council from 1985 to 1988. Between 1983 and 1986, he was chairman of the Tyre Industry Economic Development Council and between 1985 and 1990 vice-president of the Building Societies Association. In 1987 and 1988, he was director of the Birmingham Midshires Building Society. Christopher was further member of the General Medical Council (GMC) from 1989 to 1994, of the Audit Commission from 1989 to 1995 and of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission from 1989 to 1997.

Christopher was trustee of the Commonwealth Trades Union Council Charitable Trust from 1985 to 1989 and of the Save The Children Fund from 1985 to 1990. For the Institute for Public Policy Research, he was trustee from 1989 to 1994 and treasurer from 1990 to 1994. Since 1981, Christopher is also trustee of the Trades Union Unit Trust Charitable Trust and since 1998 of the Douglas Houghton Memorial Fund.

Honours

In the 1984 New Year Honours, Christopher was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) [8] and in 1989 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). On 30 July 1998, he was created a life peer as Baron Christopher, of Leckhampton in the County of Gloucestershire , [9] taking the Labour whip. Following the death of Lord Carrington in July 2018, Christopher became the oldest sitting member of the House of Lords. [10] In March 2021, he took a leave of absence from the House of Lords; he returned to the House of Lords in May 2024.

From 1953 until her death, Christopher was married to Adela Joy Thompson. Lady Christopher died on 11 October 2024, at the age of 105. [11]

Works

References

  1. 1 2 Rodgers, Sienna (3 October 2025). "Meet The Oldest UK Parliamentarian: WWII Veteran And Labour Peer Lord Christopher". The House. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Christopher, Lord". Dodd's Parliamentary Companion (2010 ed.): 615. 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 "Tax man honoured by Queen". Gloucestershire Echo. 27 June 1998. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Baron Leckhampton's lording it over town". Gloucestershire Echo. 5 August 1998. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 "Baron tells of loft bombing". Gloucestershire Echo. 9 February 1999. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "'Village lad' goes to Lords". Western Daily Press. 26 October 1998. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  7. ↑ Bernstein, Basil; Brannen, Julia (2 December 2013). Children, Research And Policy. Taylor & Francis. pp. 209–. ISBN   9781135347697 . Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "No. 49583". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1983. p. 8.
  9. ↑ "No. 55215". The London Gazette . 4 August 1998. p. 8475.
  10. ↑ "House of Lords, Official Website - Who is the oldest sitting Member of the House of Lords?" . Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Lady Adela Joy Christopher". The Times. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
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