Peter Aldous
British Conservative politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter James Guy Aldous[2] (born 26 August 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Waveney constituency in Suffolk from the 2010 general election until its abolition in 2024.
Peter Aldous | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament for Waveney | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Bob Blizzard |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Suffolk County Councillor for Halesworth | |
| In office 7 June 2001 – 5 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Honeker |
| Succeeded by | Wendy Mawer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 August 1961[1] |
| Party | Conservative |
| Education | Harrow School |
| Alma mater | University of Reading |
| Profession | Chartered Surveyor |
| Website | peteraldous.com parliament..peter-aldous |
Personal life
Peter Aldous was born in Ipswich, Suffolk.[1] He has lived in the north of the county for most of his life.[3] His family own farms near Ipswich and the market town of Halesworth.[2] He was privately educated at Harrow School and graduated from the University of Reading with a degree in Land Management in 1982.[1]
Before his election Aldous was as a chartered surveyor in Norwich.[2][1] He is a keen squash player. He supports Ipswich Town FC.[3]
Political career
Aldous was elected as a councillor to Waveney District Council in 1999, serving until 2002.[1] He was a member of Suffolk County Council between 2001 and 2005[1][3] and was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group from 2002 until 2005.[3][4]
Aldous was selected to contest the 2005 general election as the Conservative Party candidate for Waveney, but lost to the sitting Labour Party Member of Parliament Bob Blizzard by a majority of 5,915.[5] He contested the seat again at the 2010 general election, this time obtaining 40.2% of the overall vote and generating a 6.8% combined swing from Labour to Conservative, enough to win the seat by a majority of 769.[4][5]
Aldous was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[6]
Aldous has been a critic of his party over the implementation of Universal Credit and has called for the abolition of the five-week wait for payments.[7] In August 2021, Aldous and John Stevenson wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to call on the government to keep the £20-a-week Universal Credit uplift.[8] On 1 February 2022, Aldous called for the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and submitted a letter calling for a no-confidence vote.[9] In the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election he backed former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who lost to Liz Truss.[10]
