Baron Astor of Hever of the ninety elected hereditary peers who remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the "House of Lords Act" of 1999, and he sits on the Conservative benches. As a male-line descendant of the first Viscount Astor, Lord Astor of Hever is also in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary title Baron Astor, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent. The Hon. John Astor, third son of the first Baron, served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1974. The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. Charles Gavin John Astor
John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever Lieutenant-Colonel John Jacob Astor V, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, DL (20 May 1886 – 19 July 1971) was an American-born English newspaper proprietor, politician, sportsman, military officer, and a member of the Astor family. Astor was born in Manhattan, New York City, in 1886, the fourth child of William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (1848–1919), and Mary Dahlgren Paul (1858–1894). He was five years old when his family left New York to live in England. He was raised on an estate purchased by his father at Cliveden-on-Thames in Buckinghamshire and was