Sir Robert Edward Russell (born 31 March 1946) is a former

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician in the United Kingdom who was the Member of Parliament for

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

from 1997 to 2015. He was first elected at the

1997 United Kingdom general election The 1997 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 1 May 1997. The governing Conservative Party led by Prime Minister John Major was defeated in a landslide by the Labour Party led by Tony Blair, achieving a 179 seat majority. Th ...

and won subsequent re-election in 2001, 2005 and 2010; he was defeated in

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Loca ...

by the

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candidate and Colchester MP

Will Quince William James Quince (born 27 December 1982) is a British politician and former lawyer serving as Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected at the 2015 general election ...

. Russell was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

for public service in the 2012 New Year Honours. He holds the ceremonial position of

High Steward of Colchester The High Steward of Colchester is a ceremonial office awarded by Colchester Borough Council, Essex, England. The High steward (civic), stewardship was established by royal charter of Charles I of England, Charles I dated 9 July 1635. The charter, ...

Career

Prior to his first election to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, Russell was a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

representing New Town

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

continuously from 1978 to 2002. He was originally elected as a Labour Party candidate before defecting to the

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in 1981, and then standing as a

candidate from 1988 onwards. He held a

dual mandate A dual mandate is the practice in which elected officials serve in more than one elected or other public position simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain and ''cumul des mandats'' in France; not to be confused ...

of Member of Parliament and

from 1997 to 2002. He was leader of

Colchester Borough Council Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchest ...

until 1991, having previously served as

Mayor of Colchester The Mayor of Colchester sits as non-political chairman of Colchester Borough Council and serves as the civic representative of the borough. The mayoralty is customarily awarded to the most senior councillor of one of the political groups Current ...

for the year 1986–87. Prior to standing as parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats, Russell stood unsuccessfully for Parliament for

in 1979 as a Labour candidate. Russell was the Liberal Democrats' spokesman on Culture, Media and Sport from 2002 to 2005, when he was replaced by Don Foster. He was a member of the Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence team until the formation of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Government on 11 May 2010, at which point he became a backbencher. At the 2010 general election Russell's majority was 6,982 votes (15.1%). In 2011, Russell was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the

Armed Forces Bill Armed Forces Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom relating to armed forces. The bill for an act with this short title will usually have been known as an Armed Forces Bill du ...

which was passed. During his period in parliament, Russell was a member of the

Beveridge Group The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service pro ...

, vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Flag Group and sat on the

Defence Select Committee The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...

. Following his defeat at the 2015 general election, he was appointed the

(also known as ''High Sheriff of Colchester''), a position he currently holds. He stood at the 2017 general election as the Liberal Democrat candidate for his former seat, but slumped to third place.

Causes

Russell is known for supporting unusual causes, such as petitioning the House of Commons for the return of

Young's Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs. The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed t ...

bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...

to the

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. He spoke out against celebrity

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s, including

Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mich ...

. He campaigned against the 1996 sale of

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

housing to

Annington Homes Annington Homes is a provider of privately rented homes in the United Kingdom, specialising in converting former Ministry of Defence (MoD) housing for the general public since 1996. Since 2012, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of ...

and for soldiers' housing to be improved.

Controversy

In December 2010, a reply that Russell wrote to a constituent who was concerned about the cost of the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton was published. In it, Russell told the constituent to "get a life and stop whinging". In 2011, he followed this up with a contentious letter to a member of the public who had asked whether he would lend support to Colchester's new Visual Arts Facility (later to become

Firstsite Firstsite is a visual arts organisation based in Colchester, Essex, which opened in 2011. It was the national Art Fund's Museum of the Year in 2021. The building Firstsite occupy as tenants was designed by Rafael Viñoly and the freehold is r ...

). Referring to alleged implications that he did not support the arts as "Rubbish man!", Russell accused those in support of Firstsite as "expecting the council to fund their social life". Russell caused further controversy in February 2012, when another letter he had written to a constituent appeared in the press. Russell responded to the constituent's query as to what would happen if sufficient funds for a new

Royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

could not be raised by stating, “Are you serious? Don’t you have more important things in your life to be worried about without bothering me with this?"

Expenses

In 2012, Russell was found to have broken parliamentary expenses rules after claiming more than £70,000 over seven years for an office owned by a company in which he was a major shareholder. He was found to have acted in good faith, but was found to be in "clear breach" of the rules. Russell apologised, stating: "I have not personally made a financial gain from the arrangements. Rather I have made a significant personal contribution to provide an office which is fit for purpose at no additional cost to the public purse."

Other interests

Russell is a former season ticket holder for

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

football club, and wrote the foreword for a history of the club.

References

Sources

*
LibDem website biography
' *

' *
www.publicwhip.org.uk
'

External links

Bob Russell MP
''official constituency website''
Profile
at the Liberal Democrats * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Bob Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) councillors Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Politicians from London 1946 births Living people Councillors in Essex Mayors of Colchester Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Politicians awarded knighthoods Leaders of local authorities of England Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors