John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Astor of Hever
Honorific-Suffix:PC DL
Office1:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State For Defence
Primeminister1:David Cameron
Term Start1:11 May 2010
Predecessor1:The Lord Drayson
Term End1:8 May 2015
Successor1:The Earl Howe
Office2:Lord-in-waiting
Government Whip
Primeminister2:David Cameron
Term Start2:11 May 2010
Predecessor2:The Lord Brett
Term End2:5 September 2011
Successor2:The Baroness Stowell of Beeston
Office3:Member of the House of Lords
Status3:Lord Temporal
Term Label3:as a hereditary peer
Term Start3:11 February 1986
Predecessor3:The 2nd Baron Astor of Hever
Term End3:11 November 1999
Successor3:Seat abolished
Term Label4:as an elected hereditary peer
Term Start4:11 November 1999
Predecessor4:Seat established
Term End4:22 July 2022
Successor4:The 8th Earl of Effingham
Party:Conservative
Birth Name:John Jacob Astor VIII
Birth Date:16 June 1946
Relatives:See Astor family
Children:5
Parents:Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever
Lady Irene Haig
Residence:Westerham, Kent, England
Occupation:Businessman, politician

John Jacob "Johnny" Astor VIII, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, (born 16 June 1946), is an English businessman and politician from the Astor family. He sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative hereditary peer from 1986 to his retirement in 2022. Astor was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence from 2010 to 2015. Astor is a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent.

Family background

Astor was born 16 June 1946. He is the eldest of the five children of Gavin Astor, 2nd Baron Astor of Hever, and Lady Irene Haig. Astor succeeded to the peerage after his father died from cancer in June 1984. His younger siblings are Bridget, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Philip. His maternal grandfather was Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig.

Education and military career

Astor was educated at Eton College before serving with the Life Guards (the senior regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry) from 1966 until 1970, where he visited Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Northern Ireland as well as ceremonial duties in London.

He worked in France for 11 years, and is now patron of the Conservatives in Paris.

Political career

In 1994, Lord Astor was a British Parliamentary Observer in Johannesburg during the South African General Election. He was a member of the Executive, Association of Conservative Peers from 1996 to 1998. In 1999 he was elected to continue as a member of the House of Lords. Astor retired from the House of Lords on 22 July 2022.[1]

From 1998 to 2001, he served as an Opposition Spokesman on Social Security and Health from 1998 to 2003. From 2001, he has been an Opposition Spokesman for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, and International Development, from 2003 to 2010, Opposition Spokesman for Defense, and from 2010 to 2011 a Lord in Waiting. From 2010 to 2015 he was parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Defence. He is currently the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Oman and Defence Secretary's Adviser for Military Co-operation with the Sultanate of Oman.

He is former Hon. Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Middle East Council. In 1995 he piloted through the House of Lords the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act and in 1996 the Trading Schemes Act.

Marriages and children

Astor married firstly Fiona Diana Lennox-Harvey, a daughter of Capt. Roger Harvey, on 1 July 1970.[2] They had three daughters together:[3]

They were divorced in 1990 and in the same year Astor married Elizabeth Constance Mackintosh, younger daughter of John Mackintosh, 2nd Viscount Mackintosh of Halifax. They have two children:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Retirement of One Member (Retirement List) . UK Parliament . 4 July 2022.
  2. News: John J. Astor Weds Fiona Harvey . 27 July 2023 . . 19 July 1970.
  3. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999. p. 308.