Peter Luff

Sir Peter James Luff (born 18 February 1955) isChair of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund. Formerly a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Worcestershire from 1997 to 2015, for Worcester from 1992 until 1997. He was a Defence minister from 2010 to 2012.

Peter Luff was born in the Berkshire town of Windsor and attended the local Windsor Grammar School (now the comprehensive Windsor Boys' School) on Maidenhead Road. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, receiving a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Economics in 1976; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree.

Before entering parliament he worked for three years from 1977 as a research assistant to the Conservative MP Peter Walker, before heading up Edward Heath's private office for two years from 1980. He became the managing director of Good Relations Ltd, a public affairs company in 1982.

In 1987, he became a special adviser to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, David Young. He became a senior consultant for Lowe Bell Communications (now Bell Pottinger Communications) in 1989, before again working for Good Relations from 1990.

He contested Holborn and St Pancras at the 1987 general election, but was comfortably beaten by the sitting Labour MP, Frank Dobson. He was first elected to Parliament for Worcester, when he succeeded his former boss, Peter Walker. Following changes in the parliamentary constituency boundaries he was selected for the new Mid Worcestershire constituency, comprising large areas of three old constituencies, defeating another sitting Conservative MP, Eric Forth for the nomination. He won the seat comfortably and has been a member of the House of Commons since 1992, although since 1997 he has held the safe seat of Mid Worcestershire.

In Parliament he was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in 1993 to the energy minister Tim Eggar, from 1996 he served as PPS to both Ann Widdecombe the prisons minister at the Home Office and Lord Mackay the Lord Chancellor, he held these two positions simultaneously until the defeat of the Conservative government at the 1997 general election.

He has served on many parliamentary select committees, including chairing the Agriculture from 1997 to 2000, and from 2005 to 2010 he chaired what was successively known as the Trade and Industry Committee; the Business and Enterprise Select Committee; and the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee.

He is the founder member of the Parliamentary Hunting with Hounds Middle Way Group, and takes a keen parliamentary interest in India. In the resulting Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition of May 2010, Luff was appointed as a junior Defence minister at the Ministry of Defence, with the post of Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology.

In the 2015 general election, Luff stood down as a candidate. Nigel Huddleston was chosen to be the new Conservative Party candidate for Mid Worcestershire. Luff was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours for political and public service. He joined the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund as Chair on 30 March 2015.

He married Julia Jenks in 1982. They have a son and daughter.