 He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for public and charitable services.Longbottom was educated at Uppingham School, and then read for the Bar, being called in 1958 by the Inner Temple.He was interested in politics from an early age and was Vice Chairman of the Young Conservatives Advisory Committee in 1953–54; while a student he was part of the United Kingdom delegation to the World Assembly of Youth Services in Genval, Belgium.