In a ceremony at Westminster Cathedral tonight, Archbishop Moth invested Sir Edward Leigh, the veteran Member of Parliament and Father of the House of Commons, as a knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great. The papal honour was given in recognition of a lifetime of service to the Catholic Church and to public life in Great Britain.

The Conservative MP has represented the Gainsborough constituency in Lincolnshire since 1983 and is the longest continuously serving member of the House of Commons. His parliamentary career has been noted for his independence of mind and willingness to defend principle over party, with several notable instances of defying his own party’s whips. Sir Edward’s ministerial career was cut short in the 1990s over his opposition to the Maastricht Treaty, and the MP was vocal in his opposition to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He served two terms in the influential role of chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, investigating value for money in state spending, and famously described the New Labour government’s Private Finance Initiatives as “the unacceptable face of capitalism”. The experience he gained then has been instrumental in his scrutiny of plans for restoring the Palace of Westminster, which the MP has criticised as costly, inefficient and destructive.

A father of six adult children, Sir Edward also served for nine years as president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain and has been one of the most consistent voices in Parliament on questions of life, conscience and religious freedom. He repeatedly spoke in defence of the unborn, argued against the expansion of abortion law and raised ethical concerns about embryonic research. His interventions also extended to the dignity of the elderly and the vulnerable, as well as to the protection of conscience rights for medical professionals.

In recent years Sir Edward has been particularly active in drawing attention to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities overseas, using parliamentary debates to highlight abuses and to press ministers for a more robust response. His willingness to raise such issues, often unfashionable in political debate, has made him a respected figure among Catholic and other faith communities alike.

Alongside his parliamentary work, Sir Edward contributed to Catholic intellectual life as an author, essayist and poet. His books include The Nation That Forgot God (2008), on the place of religion in British life, and Monastery of the Mind (2012), describing his pilgrimage driving across Europe with his wife and six children to sites associated with the life of St Ignatius Loyola. More recently, St Paul’s Publishing printed Another Country, a book of Sir Edward’s sonnets and haiku that follow the liturgical life of the Church, inspired by the daily readings from the Church’s lectionary.

The Order of St Gregory the Great was founded in 1831 to recognise lay Catholics who demonstrate conspicuous service to the Church and society and is one of the highest distinctions of the Church. It has previously been bestowed on a number of figures in the life of the Church in Great Britain, including G K Chesterton, the late Field Marshal the Lord Guthrie, Prof Eamon Duffy, Anne Widdecombe and the former Westminster Cathedral choirmaster James O’Donnell.