Peter Tapsell (British politician)

The Right Honourable Sir Peter Tapsell
Tapsell at Prime Minister's Questions in September 2012
Father of the House of Commons
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Speaker	John Bercow
Preceded by	Alan Williams
Succeeded by	Sir Gerald Kaufman
Member of Parliament for Louth and Horncastle Horncastle (1966–1983), East Lindsey (1983–1997)
In office 31 March 1966 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	John Maitland (Horncastle) & Michael Brotherton (Louth)
Succeeded by	Victoria Atkins
Member of Parliament for Nottingham West
In office 8 October 1959 – 25 September 1964
Preceded by	Tom O'Brien
Succeeded by	Michael English
Personal details
Born	Peter Hannay Bailey Tapsell (1930-02-01)1 February 1930 Hove, Sussex, England
Died	17 August 2018(2018-08-17) (aged 88) Roughton, Lincolnshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Cecilia Hawke ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1971)​ Gabrielle Mahieu ​ (m. 1974)​
Children	1
Alma mater	Merton College, Oxford
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	British Army
Years of service	1948–1950
Rank	Second lieutenant
Unit	Royal Sussex Regiment

Sir Peter Hannay Bailey Tapsell (1 February 1930 – 17 August 2018) was a British Conservative Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth and Horncastle. He served in the House of Commons continuously from 1966 until 2015, and was also previously an MP from 1959 to 1964. He was Father of the House between 2010 and 2015. With a total parliamentary service of 54 years, he is one of the longest-serving MPs in British history.