Patrick Stopford, 9th Earl of Courtown

The Right Honourable The Earl of Courtown
Stopford in 2012
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
Incumbent
Assumed office July 2016
Preceded by	John Gardiner, Baron Gardiner of Kimble
Personal details
Born	James Patrick Montagu Burgoyne Winthrop Stopford 19 March 1954
Spouse(s)	Elisabeth Dunnett (m. 1985)
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Berkshire College of Agriculture

James Patrick Montagu Burgoyne Winthrop Stopford, 9th Earl of Courtown (called Patrick Courtown;^[1] born 19 March 1954), styled Viscount Stopford between 1957 and 1975, is an Irish peer and politician. He is one of the 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999 and sits for the Conservatives.

In 1995 he was appointed a Lord in Waiting to Her Majesty The Queen and Government Whip. He was a government spokesman for the Home Office, Department of Transport and the Scottish Office. In 2013 he was appointed a Conservative party whip. Following the 2015 election he was invited to join the Government as a Lord in Waiting to Her Majesty and Government Whip. He was promoted to Deputy Chief Whip and Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard in the May ministry in July 2016.

The son of the James Stopford, 8th Earl of Courtown and Patricia Winthrop, he was educated at Eton and the Berkshire College of Agriculture. He was further educated at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. He succeeded to his father's titles in 1975.

Lord Courtown has been married to Elisabeth Dunnett, daughter of I. R. Dunnett since 1985.

Lord Courtown's heir apparent is his son, James, who is currently styled as Viscount Stopford.

References

1. Personal website

Sources

• "DodOnline". Retrieved 2007-01-04.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Courtown