Brian Cotter, Baron Cotter

Brian Cotter, Baron Cotter

Brian Joseph Michael Cotter, Baron Cotter (born August 24, 1936 in London ) is a British politician. From 1997 to 2005 he was Member of Parliament for the Liberal Democrats in the Weston-super-Mare constituency and has been a member of the House of Lords since 2006 .

Earlier life

He was born in London to a doctor. He went to Downside School in Somerset, where at the age of 16 he ran the mile in 4½ minutes. After school he went to the British Army , where he did his military service for 2 years and was temporarily stationed in Germany with the British Army of the Rhine . After studying economics in London, he ran his own small business Plasticable Ltd in Alton .

Political career

In 1997 he became the first non-Conservative since 1923 to become a member of the Weston-super-Mare constituency, for whose seat he had fought in 1992. He was re-elected in 2001, but in 2005 John Penrose's parliamentary seat was won by the Conservatives. During his time in parliament he acted as a spokesman for the middle class of the Liberal Democrats.

In April 2006, it was announced that he would be Life Peer to take a Liberal Democratic seat in the House of Lords, and on May 30th he was bestowed the title of Baron Cotter , of Congresbury in the County of Somerset. He gave his inaugural address on June 29th.

He represents a variety of interests. In particular, he deals with medium-sized business policy and apprenticeship training.

Personal

He married Eyleen Patricia Wade in February 1963. They have two sons and a daughter.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ London Gazette, June 5, 2006
2. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/pdvn/lds06/text/60629-29.htm#60629-29_spnew0

Web links

• Cotter's profile on the Liberal Democrats' side
• Weston-super-Mare local branch of the Liberal Democrats
• Overview of the election results on the Guardian website ( Memento from May 16, 2001 in the Internet Archive )