John Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee

John Richard Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee, was born on 3 October 1956. He was known as Viscount Prestwood from 1967 until 1991, when he succeeded to the earldom. He is a member of the British Conservative Party and holds a peerage in the House of Lords. He is the grandson of Clement Attlee, the Labour Prime Minister, who was the first Earl Attlee.

Attlee completed his education at Stowe School. Following his schooling, he received training with Smiths Industries and worked primarily in materials management.

In 1985, Attlee began a career in business within the field of commercial vehicle recovery and repair. He has held positions such as president of the Heavy Transport Association and patron of the Road Rescue Recovery Association. During the winter of 1993–94, he participated in a tour with the non-governmental organization British Direct Aid in Bosnia. He subsequently managed British Direct Aid's operations in Rwanda for most of 1995.

He served as a member of the Territorial Army. His military service includes deployment in Bosnia with an aid organization during 1993–1994 and participation in the Gulf War.

Attlee inherited his earldom in 1991 after the death of his father. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1992, initially as a crossbench peer. Prior to the 1997 general election, he joined the Conservative Party. Following the House of Lords Act 1999, which reduced the number of hereditary peers, he remained one of the ninety elected hereditary peers in the chamber.

In his parliamentary career, Attlee served as an Opposition spokesman on various issues. Before the 2010 general election, he was a spokesman for transport and acted as an Opposition whip. After the Conservatives’ victory in that election, he was appointed a Lord-in-waiting, serving as a government whip in the House of Lords. He held this position until April 2014, when he stepped down from the government role and was succeeded by Susan Williams, Baroness Williams of Trafford.

In personal life, Earl Attlee married Teresa Ahern on 27 September 2008. The wedding took place in the Crypt Chapel of St Mary Undercroft at the Palace of Westminster. Lady Attlee is the younger daughter of Mortimer Ahern of Malvern, Worcestershire. Under the terms of the peerage, if Lord Attlee dies without a male heir, the earldom will become extinct.