| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Lord Bridges | |
| Office: | Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Italy |
| Term Start: | 1983 |
| Term End: | 1987 |
| Predecessor: | Sir Ronald Arculus |
| Successor: | Sir Derek Thomas |
| Office1: | Member of the House of Lords |
| Status1: | Lord Temporal |
| Term Label1: | as a hereditary peer |
| Term Start1: | 12 February 1975 |
| Term End1: | 11 November 1999 |
| Predecessor1: | The 1st Baron Bridges |
| Successor1: | Seat abolished |
| Term Label2: | as an elected hereditary peer |
| Term Start2: | 11 November 1999 |
| Term End2: | 18 May 2016 [1] |
| Predecessor2: | Seat established |
| Successor2: | The 15th Earl of Cork and Orrery |
| Birth Date: | 27 November 1927 |
| Spouse: | Rachel Mary Bunbury |
| Children: | 3 |
| Father: | Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges |
| Party: | Crossbencher |
| Alma Mater: | Eton College New College, Oxford |
Thomas Edward Bridges, 2nd Baron Bridges, (27 November 1927 – 27 May 2017[2]), was a British hereditary peer and diplomat.[3]
Bridges was born on 27 November 1927 to Edward Bridges, later Cabinet Secretary. His grandfather was Robert Bridges, the Poet Laureate. He was educated at Eton College and New College, Oxford.
He joined the Diplomatic Service in 1951. Following postings to, amongst other places, West Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow and Washington, D.C., he was HM Ambassador to Italy from 1983 to 1987.
He sat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords from 1975, and was one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain under the House of Lords Act 1999[4] He was on leave of absence from March 2011 to May 2015.[5] Having failed to attend during the whole of the 2015–16 session without being on leave of absence, he ceased to be a member on 18 May 2016 pursuant to section 2 of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014.[6] He died a year later on 27 May 2017 at the age of 89.
Bridges was married to Rachel Mary Bunbury (1926–2005), youngest daughter of Sir Henry Bunbury. They had three children:
The Conservative peer The Lord Bridges of Headley is his nephew.
In 1969, Bridges succeeded to the barony of Bridges upon the death of his father. In the 1975 New Year Honours, he was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George as a Companion (CMG). In the 1983 New Year Honours, Bridges was promoted within the same Order as a Knight Commander (KCMG). In the 1988 New Year Honours, Bridges was promoted within the same Order as a Knight Grand Cross (GCMG).