Richard Shepherd

Sir Richard Shepherd

Richard Shepherd photographed in September 2007
Member of Parliament
for Aldridge-Brownhills
In office
3 May 1979 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by Geoff Edge
Succeeded by Wendy Morton
Personal details
Born (1942-12-06) 6 December 1942
Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Alma mater London School of Economics (BSc),
Johns Hopkins University (MSc)
Profession Underwriter

Sir Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd (born 6 December 1942) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament for the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills from 1979 to 2015.

A Eurosceptic, Shepherd was one of the Maastricht Rebels that had the whip withdrawn over opposition to John Major's legislation on the European Union. Shepherd is also a libertarian,[1] and had a three line whip imposed against him by Margaret Thatcher when he introduced an amendment loosening the Official Secrets Act 1911.

Early life

Shepherd was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and educated at Isleworth Grammar School (now Isleworth and Syon School) in Isleworth. He then went on to the London School of Economics where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, and where he studied with and became a friend of Robert Kilroy-Silk. At the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, Shepherd received a Master of Science in Economics.

Shepherd was a director of the retail food businesses Partridges[2] of Sloane Street and Shepherd Foods in London. He was then an underwriter at Lloyd's of London from 1974–94.

Parliamentary career

Shepherd contested the constituency of Nottingham East in February 1974, where he was defeated by the Labour Party candidate Jack Dunnett. He was formerly an assistant to Sir Teddy Taylor.

Shepherd was elected Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills in 1979. He was selected as 'Backbencher of the Year' in 1985 and the Spectator's 'Parliamentarian of the Year' in 1995. In 1989, he was identified by a Mori poll of his fellow MPs to be one of the ten most effective MPs currently sitting in Parliament.

One of the most significant events in Shepherd's career came in 1988 when he introduced his Protection of Official Information Bill,[3] which was to replace parts of the Official Secrets Act 1911, with intent to provide limited protection to some whistleblowers. The government introduced a three line whip which called on its MPs to vote against the bill, even though it was introduced by a member of their own party. This brought considerable debate at the time both in parliament and in the media. The bill was defeated. However Shepherd successfully introduced similar provisions into law in 1998.

Shepherd was one of the Maastricht Rebels, and is known to have libertarian leanings. He had close links to fellow Maastricht rebels Nicholas Budgen and Christopher Gill, even giving the eulogy at Budgen's funeral at Lichfield Cathedral.

Shepherd was a strong advocate of Parliament's power to hold the government to account.[4] Shepherd stood to be Speaker of the House of Commons in 2000, and won 136 votes: the third-closest to defeating Michael Martin of eleven opponents. When Martin was forced resign, in 2009, he stood for the position again. An outsider, at 14/1,[4] he won only 15 votes, and was eliminated on the first ballot.[5]

Shepherd was rated as one of the Conservatives' most rebellious MPs.[6]

Shepherd was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for public service.[7]

Shepherd retired from Parliament at the 2015 general election.[8]

Personal life

Shepherd is single. He has served as President of Walsall Football Club.

References

  1. ↑ "Time to stand up and be counted?". BBC News. 1 December 1998.
  2. ↑ "Partridges". Partridges. 15 December 1975. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Whistleblowing". Cfoi.org.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  4. 1 2 Sparrow, Andrew; Owen, Paul (19 May 2009). "Who will be the next Speaker?". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ Prince, Rosa (22 June 2009). "Speaker election: candidate pitches and reaction". The Daily Telegraph.
  6. ↑ 15 December 2010 in Rebellions (15 December 2010). "Philip Hollobone continues to top the league table of backbench rebels Tory MPs". Conservativehome.blogs.com. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 1.
  8. ↑ Walsall Advertiser. "MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, Sir Richard Shepherd, to step down at next election after 35 years' service".
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Geoff Edge		 Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills
1979–2015 		Succeeded by
Wendy Morton
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