Political Career
Tapsell was personal assistant to Sir Anthony Eden during the 1955 general election. He contested the Wednesbury by-election in 1957, losing to the Labour Party's John Stonehouse. He was Chairman of the Coningsby Club from 1957 until 1958.
He first entered Parliament in the 1959 general election, representing Nottingham West, and is the Conservatives' longest-serving MP albeit with a break in service (1964 to 1966). He is also the only current MP of any party first elected in the 1950s, but the gap in his parliamentary service prevented him from being Father of the House until Alan Williams retired in 2010.
After losing his seat at the 1964 general election, he was selected for Horncastle, representing that seat from 1966 to 1983. In 1983, boundary changes moved Tapsell to East Lindsey, which he represented until 1997 when boundary changes moved him to his present constituency. Tapsell was knighted in 1985.
Tapsell is known for his forthright views and is no stranger to controversy. In May 2001, he made headlines during the UK general election campaign when comparing German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's vision of Europe to Adolf Hitler's: "We may not have studied Hitler's Mein Kampf in time but, by heaven, there is no excuse for us not studying the Schröder plan now".
On 9 November 2005 he was the only Conservative MP, and one of only two non-Labour MPs, to vote in favour of a proposal to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge.
In July 2006, he said that Israeli action in Lebanon was "gravely reminiscent of the Nazi atrocity on the Jewish quarter of Warsaw". He is opposed to the war in Afghanistan.
Guardian sketch writer Simon Hoggart frequently lavishes praise on Sir Peter, describing him as "the grandest of grandees" (July 2008) that when in the Chamber, Tapsell rises "to speak, or rather to intone superbly" (January 2008) and that "like the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone Park, erupts at irregular but predictable intervals" (July 2009).
In June 2011, it was announced Tapsell would be appointed as a Privy Counsellor in the 2011 Birthday Honours. On 13 July 2011, he was sworn of Council.
In March 2012, Tapsell was reported as being one of the Conservative MPs to have spoken critically of Party Co-Chairman Sayeeda Warsi at a meeting of the 1922 Committee, following Warsi's handling of Roger Helmer MEP's defection to UKIP.
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