Peter Emery

Sir Peter Emery
Member of Parliament for East Devon Honiton (1967-1997)
In office 16 March 1967 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Robert Mathew
Succeeded by	Hugo Swire
Member of Parliament for Reading
In office 8 October 1959 – 31 March 1966
Preceded by	Ian Mikardo
Succeeded by	John Lee
Personal details
Born	27 February 1926(1926-02-27) London
Died	12 September 2004(2004-09-12) (aged 78)
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	Oriel College, Oxford

Sir Peter Frank Hannibal Emery (27 February 1926 – 9 December 2004) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Emery was born in London, but was evacuated to the United States during World War II. He was educated at Scotch Plains High School, New Jersey before serving with the Royal Air Force. He attended Oriel College, Oxford. While at Oriel he founded the political group United Europe with Sir Edward Boyle, Peter Kirk, and Dick Taverne. He was librarian of the Oxford 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 1951 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 the Bow Group.

After being defeated in Reading in the 1966 general election, Emery returned the following year by winning a by-election in Honiton. He represented that seat and its successor East Devon until stepping down at the 2001 general election. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1993.

Emery spent most of his long political career as a backbencher, although he did serve as a junior minister under Edward Heath and, during his final term, served as treasurer of the powerful 1922 committee.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Ian Mikardo	Member of Parliament for Reading 1959 – 1966	Succeeded by John Lee
Preceded by Robert Mathew	Member of Parliament for Honiton 1967 – 1997	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for East Devon 1997 – 2001	Succeeded by Hugo Swire