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Parliamentarians at the Olympic and Paralympic Games: full list

A number of members of the House of Lords and House of Commons, past and present, have competed in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

  • John Pius Boland (1870-1958); MP for South Kerry 1900-1918

Won gold medals in both the singles and doubles in lawn tennis in the 1896 Olympics in Athens.

  • Rt Hon Col. John Gretton, Baron Gretton (1867-1947); MP for Derbyshire South 1895-1906, Rutland 1907-1918, and Burton 1918-1943, entered House of Lords 1944

Won a gold medal for sailing in the 1900 Olympics in France, whilst serving as an MP.

  • John Jacob Astor, first Baron Astor of Hever (1886–1971); MP for Dover 1922-1945, entered House of Lords 1956

Won a gold medal in the doubles and a bronze in the singles in raquets at the 1908 London Olympics.

  • John Wodehouse, Lord Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley (1883-1941); MP for Mid-Norfolk 1906-1910, entered House of Lords 1932

Won a silver medal at the 1908 London Olympics, and a gold medal at the 1920 Olympics, for polo.

  • Sir Philip Richardson (1865-1953); MP for Chertsey 1922-1931

Won a silver medal at the 1908 London Olympics for shooting. 

  • Richard Whieldon Barnett (1863-1930), MP for St Pancras West 1916-1918 and St Pancras South West 1918 – 1929

Competed for Britain at the 1908 London Olympics, in shooting.

  • William Dudley Ward (1877-1946), MP for Southampton 1906-1922

Won a bronze medal in the sailing 8-metre class at the 1908 London Olympics, while serving as an MP.

  • Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton (1879-1951); entered House of Lords 1948

Won the bronze medal at the jeu de paume competition at the 1908 London Olympics.

  • Thomas Fremantle, 3rd Baron Cottesloe (1862-1956); entered House of Lords 1918

Competed in the shooting at the 1908 London Olympics.

  • Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (1879-1953); entered House of Lords 1901

Competed in motorboat racing at the 1908 London Olympics.

  • Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden (1880-1946), entered House of Lords 1901

Competed in motorboat racing at the 1908 London Olympics.

  • William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough (1855-1945), MP for Salisbury 1880-1882 and 1885-1886, Hereford 1892-1893, Wycombe 1900-1905; entered House of Lords 1906

Chair of the British Olympic Association when London hosted the 1908 Olympics.

  • Philip Noel-Baker, Baron Noel-Baker (1889-1982), MP for Coventry 1929-31, and Derby/Derby South 1936-70, entered House of Lords 1977

Ran for Britain at the Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912, and was team manager as well as a competitor for the British track team for the 1920 and 1924 Olympics.

  • Rt Hon Robert Bourne (1888-1939), MP for Oxford City 1924-1938

Won silver for rowing as part of the Men's Eights in the 1912 Olympics.

  • Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne (1896-1982); entered House of Lords 1932

Won silver for rowing as part of the Men's Eights in the 1920 Olympics.

  • Frederick ('Freddie') Edward Guest, (1875–1937), MP for East Dorset 1910, Stroud 1923-1924, Bristol North 1924-1929, Plymouth Drake 1931-1937

Won a bronze medal as part of the British polo team at the 1924 Olympics, while serving as an MP.

  • David Carnegie, 11th Earl of Northesk (1901–1963); elected a Scottish representative peer in 1959

Won bronze in the skeleton at the 1928 Winter Olympics.

  • John Aymer Dalrymple, 13th Earl of Stair (1906-1996); entered House of Lords 1971

Competed in the bobsleigh at the 1928 Winter Olympics.

  • John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara (1884-1964); MP for Chatham 1918-1929 and Wallasey (1931-1942), entered House of Lords 1942

Registered to compete in the skeleton at the 1928 Winter Olympics, while serving as an MP). He broke several ribs while training a couple of days before the event, so was a non-starter.

  • David Cecil, Lord Burghley, 6th Marquess of Exeter (1905-1981); MP for Peterborough 1931-43, entered House of Lords 1956

Won a gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam and silver for the 4x400m relay in 1932.  Also came 5th, 110 metre hurdles, 4th, 400 metre hurdles, and 2nd, 4x400 metres in 1932.

  • Davina Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth (1938-2008), entered House of Lords 1969

Won a gold medal in the 25m backstroke at the 1968 Paralympics in Tel Aviv and bronze for the women's team table tennis at the 1972 Paralympics in Heidelberg.

Won a gold medal in the 25 metres breaststroke at the 1960 Paralympic Games in Rome, a gold medal in women's doubles table tennis at the 1964 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and also competed at the 1968 Paralympic Games in Tel Aviv.

Ran for Britain at the Olympic Games in 1948 and 1952.

Lord Higgins: Olympic competitor's blazer badge and tie

  •  Sir Christopher Chataway (b1931); MP for Lewisham North 1959-66 and Chichester 1969-74

Long-distance runner. Competed in the 5,000 metres final in the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952.

Competed for the Great Britain team in the 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

Sir Menzies Campbell: Olympic running vest and blazer

Won a gold medal for Bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck in 1964.

Lord Glentoran: Olympic gold medal for bobsleigh

Won silver for rowing, as cox of the Great Britain VIII, in 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Lord Moynihan: Olympic silver medal for Rowing (Eights)
The Moynihan Collection of Olympic Memorabilia

Won gold for 1,500m and silver for 800m in both 1980 and 1984 Olympics.

Lord Coe: Olympic running shoes

Paralympic Games:
2004 Athens - 2 Gold medals in the 100m, and 400m
2000 Sydney - 4 Gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m
1996 Atlanta - 1 Gold medal in the 800m. 3 Silver medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m
1992 Barcelona - 4 Gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m
1988 Seoul - 1 Bronze medal 400m

Tanni Grey-Thompson's website

Won 9 golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze in swimming at the Paralympic Games between 1988 and 2000, including a record six gold medals at a single Paralympics in Barcelona 1992. He was also LOCOG's Director of Paralympic Integration, responsible for the organisation of the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Lord Holmes's website

Thanks to the Conservative History Group and to Dr Adrien Rodd for some of this information. Do you know of any Parliamentary Olympians not on our list? Contact us and let us know.

Olympics

Explore the Parliamentary Collections for images and documents from the Parliamentary Archives about the Olympic Games