Fred Silvester

Frederick John Silvester (born 20 September 1933) is a retired British Conservative Party politician.

The son of William Thomas Silvester and Kathleen Gertrude (née Jones), Silvester was educated at Sir George Monoux Grammar School, Walthamstow, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he achieved a first class in Part I of the history tripos and a lower second in Part II of the law tripos, graduating in 1954. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1957, and became a Conservative member of Walthamstow Borough Council four years later. Having contested the Walthamstow West parliamentary constituency in 1966, Silvester was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) at the Walthamstow West by-election in 1967, but lost the seat at the 1970 general election. He was returned to Parliament at the February 1974 general election as MP for Manchester Withington, and held that seat but he was defeated at the 1987 general election by Labour's Keith Bradley.

As an Opposition Whip during Harold Wilson's second government (1974–76), Silvester is a major character in James Graham's play This House.