Astor represented Great Britain in
rackets at the
1908 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in the men's doubles competition together with
Vane Pennell and winning bronze in the men's singles event. In the same year he played singles and doubles in the British Army rackets championships. He was then Aide-de-Camp to
Baron Hardinge,
Viceroy of India between 1911 and 1914 and was promoted Captain in 1913. In addition to his directorships and newspaper business, John Jacob V served in politics as
Alderman of the
London County Council between 1922 and 1925 and in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom for 23 years as
Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) for
Dover from 1922 to 1945. In March 1924, Astor caused the
1924 Dover by-election to be held after having voted before taking the
oath of allegiance - doing so means an MP's seat is vacated "as if he were dead". He was returned unopposed just six days after losing his seat. In 1926, he was made Lieutenant of the
City of London, then held the offices of
Justice of the Peace from 1929 and Deputy Lieutenant of Kent from 1936 until 1962. In 1927, he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the
Kent and Sussex Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery, a post he held until 1946, then Honorary Colonel of the 23rd
London Regiment in 1928, holding that post until 1949. During
World War II, he also became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 5th Battalion, City of London
Home Guard, a unit drawn from newspaper employees, between 1940 and 1944. On 21 January 1956, he was created
Baron Astor of Hever,
of Hever Castle in the County of Kent, taking his seat in the House of Lords on 21 March. He remained chairman of
The Times until 1959 when his son Gavin took over, seven years before it was sold to
Canadian newspaper tycoon,
Roy Thomson. ==Personal life==