Longest-Serving MP Peter Tapsell To Step Down

Britain's longest-serving MP, Sir Peter Tapsell, is to stand down at the next general election.

The Conservative, who is currently Father of the House, is due to tell his local Lincolnshire association that he will not fight the 2015 campaign.

The 84-year-old was first elected to the Commons 55 years ago aged 29 and has contested 15 parliamentary elections in five constituencies.

His departure from the safe Tory seat of Louth and Horncastle will prompt speculation that he is making way for Boris Johnson's return to Parliament.

He had previously been asked whether he would stay on beyond the next election and replied that he was "keeping his seat warm for Boris".

A former stockbroker and merchant banker, Sir Peter was a persistent critic of Margaret Thatcher's economic policy and was named as the Tory MP to second Michael Heseltine's nomination for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1990.

The Father of the House title goes to the member of the House of Commons with the longest unbroken service.

The next longest-serving MPs are Sir Gerald Kaufman, Ken Clarke, Michael Meacher and Dennis Skinner.