Tom Spencer (politician)


Thomas Newnham Bayley Spencer is a British Conservative Party politician and former Member of the European Parliament.
Spencer was educated at Pangbourne Nautical College and the University of Southampton.
He served as Conservative MEP for Derbyshire from 1979–1984, Conservative MEP for Surrey West from 1989–1994, and as Conservative MEP for Surrey from 1994–1999. He was leader of the UK Conservative MEPs from 1995 to 1998 and was Chairman of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee from 1997 to 1999.
He decided not to stand for re-election to the European Parliament in 1999 after being found with gay pornography and two cannabis cigarettes in his luggage at Heathrow Airport. Spencer acknowledged being gay and said that his wife was aware of that before they married. Spencer was in a relationship with pornographic actor Cole Tucker, who was depicted in the pornography found in Spencer's luggage.