Antony Rivers Marlow (born 17 June 1940), known as Tony Marlow, is a British former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) between 1979 and 1997.

Early life

Born in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Marlow was educated at Wellington College, RMA Sandhurst and

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

Parliamentary career

After leaving the army he was employed in management consultancy and commercial development. Before he entered the House, Marlow unsuccessfully fought Normanton in February 1974 and Rugby in October 1974. He gained

Northampton North Northampton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Lucy Rigby, a member of Labour. The constituency is a considered a bellwether, as it has reflected the national result at every general ...

at the 1979 election, defeating the Labour MP Maureen Colquhoun. Subsequently, he had a reliably

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

voting record, voting against the

Single European Act The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market by 31 December 1992, and a forerunner of the European Union's Common Fore ...

and the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...

, as well as against the entry of Spain and Portugal into the EEC. He was one of the eight Conservative MPs who had the party whip withdrawn for opposing a confidence vote, called during the debates on

. Together with other rebels, he supported an ultimately successful Labour amendment which set the level of VAT on fuel at half the government's proposed level, a rate that remains to this day. After losing the whip for his rebellion over the

, Marlow endorsed John Redwood's unsuccessful challenge to

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1995. He was for many years Chairman of the UK Palestine All Party Group, leading and organising delegations to meet

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

and to visit Southern Lebanon, the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. With Professor Alan Woodruff of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Marlow campaigned against dog nuisance based on the dangers arising from '' Toxocara canis'', initiating the Parliamentary campaign through the introduction of a ten-minute rule bill. Marlow was Chairman of the Crossrail Private Bill Committee he last such committee Although impressed by the concept, at the time demand for urban travel in London was declining with increasingly sophisticated electronic communications leading to a progressive closure of back offices. It also became apparent that sufficient Treasury funding was unlikely to be forthcoming and that had the Bill been agreed, large parts of east London would have been threatened with planning blight. The Committee voted against the Bill. He was censured by the then-speaker

Betty Boothroyd Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency), West Bromwich an ...

for referring to

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...

as a "stupid cow" during a debate about

mad cow disease Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and always fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of th ...

on 25 March 1996. Marlow lost his seat in the 1997 election to Labour's

Sally Keeble Sally Curtis Keeble (born 13 October 1951) is a British Labour Party politician who is the Leader of the Labour group on West Northamptonshire Council. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Northampton North from the 1997 to 2010 general ...

. Since leaving Parliament Marlow has been farming in West Wales with a flock of sheep, 70 pure bred

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

cattle, arable and woodland - over 100 acres of which he has planted. He has also designed and built/converted twenty five houses. He has a large family.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', Times Newspapers Limited, 1997 edition.

External links

Northampton North Conservative Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlow, Tony 1940 births Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English expatriates in Turkey Living people People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Royal Engineers officers Marlow, Tony Marlow, Tony Marlow, Tony Marlow, Tony British Eurosceptics