Born and brought up in the garrison town of Windsor and in the shadow of its famous castle, Peter Luff developed his respect for the armed forces from his earliest days, watching the Changing of the Guard and other military ceremonies and displays. Although it was the army that first nurtured his loyalty to the services, marrying into a naval family cemented it. Even before his appointment as a Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology he had completed two separate 'tours of duty' with the Royal Navy under the auspices of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.
To his ministerial role he also brings an understanding of commerce and a particular appreciation of the needs of small businesses. Before his election to Parliament in 1992 for the Worcester constituency, he was company secretary of his family stationery firm and held a range of managerial positions in one of Britain's leading public relations consultancies, including the post of Managing Director of its public affairs subsidiary.
During his Parliamentary career, and prior to his appointment as a minister, he had concentrated on the scrutiny role, as Chairman of the Commons Agriculture Committee and, subsequently the Trade and Industry Committee. He also served for five years in the Opposition Whips' Office, including two years as Assistant Chief Whip.
From 2005 to 2010, as Chairman of the Trade and Industry Committee (latterly known as the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee), he conducted a wide range of inquiries into issues now highly relevant to his defence portfolio, including, for example, a major inquiry into the Aerospace and Motorsport sectors.
He believes this combination of experience and enthusiasms is particularly valuable in his present role with responsibility for some 40% of Britain's defence budget, including all equipment acquisition and support (through the DE&S organisation) and for MOD's science programme, including Dstl. He is also responsible for international collaboration on equipment and is the department's champion for small business.
Following boundary changes in 1997, he was elected to the new Mid Worcestershire constituency. He lives in the county with his wife Julia. They have two grown-up children.
Peter's interests include photography, theatre and walking in the Worcestershire countryside. Although he read Economics at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he retains a strong interest in engineering and science issues and his (non-political) hero is the great engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.