Andrew Rosindell chose to celebrate 25 years of public services with a “star-studded” knees up at London Zoo.

The Romford MP was joined by family, friends and politicians at the bash – which began with “Pimms with penguins”.

Among the 250 people who turned out were deputy speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle, leader of the House of Commons Chris Grayling, secretary of state for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers, former first sea lord Lord West and Hi-de-Hi actress Su Pollard.

Guest of honour at the event was Lord Jeffrey Archer, Andrew’s friend of 30 years and the man who inspired him to become an MP.

After feeding the penguins sardines, the guests enjoyed a “victory dinner” with speeches and entertainment from singer Patti Boulaye.

Andrew has served Romford as both a councillor and an MP since 1990.

He was first elected to the council chamber in 1990, representing Chase Cross ward, where he won the seat from the Liberals.

In 2001 he was voted in as Romford’s MP, displacing Labour’s Eileen Gordon.

“It’s been wonderful to be able to celebrate a quarter century of public service in the company of so many friends, family and colleagues,” said Andrew. “I am very proud to have been elected by the people of Romford in seven different elections over the past twenty five years.

“There is no greater honour for an MP than to be able to represent their home town, and I want to thank everyone for their magnificent support for me over such a long time.”

A charity auction on the night, conducted by MP Nigel Evans and ITV news presenter Charlene White, helped to raise money for the Orang-utan Appeal UK, Andrew’s chosen charity for the evening.

The MP said he picked the Camden zoo for his event because he was a “big animal lover” – a claim disputed by many over his repeated blocking of the “circus bill” which would ban the use of wild animals in UK circuses.

“I thought it was a fun place to have a celebration,” he said. “I know them all very well so they hosted it for me.

“It truly was a special occasion, and it’s wonderful to know that we raised so much money for the Orang-utans!”