- Peter Emery
Sir Peter Frank Hannibal Emery (
27 February 1926 –9 December 2004 ) was a Conservative Party politician in theUnited Kingdom .Emery was born in
London , but was evacuated to theUnited States duringWorld War II . He was educated at Scotch Plains High School,New Jersey before serving with theRoyal Air Force . He attendedOriel College, Oxford . While at Oriel he founded the political group "United Europe" with Sir Edward Boyle, Peter Kirk, andDick Taverne . He was librarian of theOxford Union .Emery was a councillor on Hornsey Borough Council, chairing the housing committee. He was a school governor and a member of the executive committee of the
London Municipal Society .He stood for Parliament without success in Poplar at the 1955 general election and Lincoln. He first gained a seat in parliament at the 1959 general election, when he famously ousted trade unionist
Ian Mikardo from his Reading seat. He became a founding member of theBow Group .Emery spent most of his long political career as a
backbencher , although he did serve as a junior minister underEdward Heath and, during his final term, served as treasurer of the powerful1922 committee .He served as a
member of Parliament continuously for Reading, Honiton, and East Devon until stepping down at the 2001 general election. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1993.
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