The Lord Tope | |
---|---|
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 4 October 1994 Life Peerage | |
Member of the London Assembly for (London-wide) | |
In office 4 May 2000 – 1 May 2008 | |
Preceded by | Assembly Created |
Succeeded by | Caroline Pidgeon |
Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam | |
In office 7 December 1972 – 8 February 1974 | |
Preceded by | Richard Sharples |
Succeeded by | Neil Macfarlane |
Personal details | |
Born | 30 November 1943 |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal Democrats, Liberal Party (1972-1988) |
Graham Norman Tope, Baron Tope, CBE (born 30 November 1943) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom.[1][2] He was also a councillor in the London Borough of Sutton until 2014.[3]
In 1972, Tope captured the seat of Sutton and Cheam at a parliamentary by-election from the Conservatives for the Liberal Party. The Conservatives retook the seat at the February 1974 general election.[4]
In November 1973, Tope was made spokesperson for the Liberal Party on health and social security and Northern Ireland.[5]
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 is a member of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union and is the only person in the country 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.[8]
At the London Assembly, he was leader of the Liberal Democrat Group until 2006, 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.[9]