Graham Tope, Baron Tope

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Tope
CBE
Official portrait, 2020
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
4 October 1994
Member of the London Assembly
for Londonwide
In office
4 May 2000 – 1 May 2008
Preceded byAssembly created
Succeeded byCaroline Pidgeon
Member of Parliament
for Sutton and Cheam
In office
7 December 1972 – 8 February 1974
Preceded byRichard Sharples
Succeeded byNeil Macfarlane
Personal details
BornGraham Norman Tope
(1943-11-30) 30 November 1943
PartyLiberal Democrats (formerly Liberal Party, 1972–1988)

Graham Norman Tope, Baron Tope, CBE (born 30 November 1943) is a British politician and life peer. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he has served in both the House of Commons (1972–1974) and House of Lords (1994–present). Locally he was also a councillor on Sutton London Borough Council from 1974 to 2014 and elected to the London Assembly from 2000 to 2008.[1][2]

Career

In 1972, Tope captured the seat of Sutton and Cheam at a parliamentary by-election from the Conservatives for the Liberal Party. He became the first Liberal to represent the seat. The Conservatives retook it at the February 1974 general election.[3] Tope contested the seat again in October 1974 without success.

In November 1973, Tope was made spokesperson for the Liberal Party on health, social security and Northern Ireland.[4]

From 1974 to 2014 Tope was a councillor on Sutton London Borough Council.[5] He was leader of the council from 1986 to 1999.

Having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1991 Birthday Honours,[6] Tope was created a life peer as Baron Tope, of Sutton in the London Borough of Sutton on 4 October 1994.[7] He became the Liberal Democrats' spokesperson on education. He was a member of the European Committee of the Regions and is the only person to have served as a member of a European Institution, a member of the UK Parliament, a member of a regional government structure and as a borough councillor all at the same time.[3]

At the London Assembly, he was leader of the Liberal Democrat Group until 2006, a member of the Audit Panel and member of the Transport Committee. He was also a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, which oversees the Metropolitan Police.[3] He retired after two terms at the 2008 London Assembly election.

References

  1. "Mr Graham Tope". Hansard. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  2. "Parliamentary career for Lord Tope - MPs and Lords". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. "Experience for Lord Tope - MPs and Lords". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  4. Groser, John (23 November 1973). "'Portfolios' for Liberal MPs". The Times. No. 58946. p. 2.
  5. "Sutton Central Ward". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  6. "No. 52563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1991. p. 9.
  7. "No. 53812". The London Gazette. 7 October 1994. p. 14073.