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
Hever Golf Rose in the straight, but faded in the closing stages to finish eighth of the thirteen runners behind Desert Stormer. Hever Golf Rose failed to win in thirteen starts as five-year-old, despite running prominently in top sprint races all over Europe. She finished second in the Goldene Peitsche, the Holsten Trophy, the King George Stakes, the Taby Varsprint and the Bénazet-Rennen, and third in the July Cup, the Nunthorpe Stakes, the Prix de l'Abbaye and the Premio Omenoni. After her narrow defeat in the King George Stakes the "Independent's" correspondent described her as "one of the most willing and popular horses