Richard Bacon (politician)

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Richard Bacon

Richard Michael Bacon (December 3, 1962) is a British politician and Conservative Member of Parliament for Norfolk South.

Born in 1962, he was educated at The King's School, Worcester and at the London School of Economics, gaining a First. He joined the Conservative Party in 1978 and worked variously in banking and journalism. He contested the safe Labour seat of Vauxhall at the 1997 General Election.

He was selected for the very safe Conservative seat of Norfolk South on the retirement of its veteran MP and former Cabinet Minister, John MacGregor. He won the seat at the 2001 General Election, and retained the seat with an increased majority at the 2005 General Election.

Though he rarely rebels against the party line (less than 2% in 2001-2005), he was one of only 15 Conservative MPs to vote against the 2003 invasion of Iraq in March of that year. He has also voted against the anti terror laws, top-up fees, foundation hospitals, and the ban on fox hunting, and is one of the few Conservatives to support the Impeach Blair campaign.

As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, he has taken a particular interest in the nature and causes of overspending, delays and failures with Government IT projects.

Bacon's questioning of Home Office officials concerning the fate of failed asylum seekers released from prison [1] led to a major embarrassment for the Labour administration in the run-up to the local elections in May 2006, and the sacking of Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary [2]. However, Bacon was not actually himself in favour of the dismissal of Clarke, a fellow Norfolk MP, declaring that he had always liked him, and that his questioning had been "business, not pleasure" [3]

In July 2006, Bacon was named "Backbencher of the Year" by his fellow MPs. In November 2006, he won three more awards: "Parliamentarian of the Year" by the Spectator magazine, "Politician of the Year" by the Political Studies Association and "Outstanding Parliamentarian of the Year” by the ConservativeHome website.

He has one sister, Fiona Bacon, and was married to Victoria Panton on 28 January 2006, at St Margaret's Church, Westminster.