Alexander John Randall, Baron Randall of Uxbridge (born 5 August 1955) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

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and for

Uxbridge and South Ruislip Uxbridge and South Ruislip is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The seat has been held by the Conservative Party since its 2010 creation. Since 2015 it has been represented by Boris J ...

until

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, before being awarded a life peerage in 2018. A member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, he served as Government Deputy Chief Whip from May 2010 and October 2013, as well as Environment Adviser to Theresa May from 2017 to 2019. Lord Randall is a trustee and Vice-Chair of the Human Trafficking Foundation and in February 2016 was appointed Special Envoy on modern slavery to the Mayor of London, alongside

Anthony Steen Anthony David Steen CBE (born 22 July 1939) is a former British Conservative Party politician and barrister. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 2010, and the Chairman of the Human Trafficking Foundation. Having represented Totnes i ...

Early life

Uxbridge, Vine Street and Randalls store - geograph

Randall's family have lived in Uxbridge for many years. The family owned the major local department store

Randalls of Uxbridge Randalls of Uxbridge was a family-owned British department store in Vine Street, Uxbridge, which operated for 123 years until it closed in January 2015. The store mainly sold homeware and furniture, but also sold designer menswear. History R ...

on Vine Street, which was founded by his great-grandfather Philip Randall in 1891, and closed in 2015. Born in Uxbridge, Randall was educated at Rutland House School, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in Hillingdon in the west of

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

and at Merchant Taylors' School in

Moor Park, Hertfordshire Moor Park is a private residential estate in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is a suburban residential development. History ...

. In 1979, he graduated from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (which is now part of University College London) with an Upper Second Class Honours BA degree in Serbo-Croatian language and literature. Randall later became managing director of Randall's and one of three shareholders in the business. In 1994, he became Honorary Treasurer of Uxbridge Conservative Association, which later elected him Chairman. He announced in 2014 that the family store would close, citing decreased turnover and competition from online shopping as causes. Speaking about the closure, he criticised other employers for using

zero-hours contract A zero-hour contract is a type of employment contract between an employer and an employee whereby the employer is not obliged to provide any minimum number of working hours to the employee. The term 'zero-hour contract' is primarily used in th ...

s to cut their costs.

Parliamentary career

House of Commons

Randall was elected Member of Parliament for Uxbridge in a by-election following the death of Sir Michael Shersby in the wake of the Labour Party's

landslide election victory. Randall had been an election agent for Shersby throughout the 1997 General Election campaign. He became the first Conservative candidate to win a parliamentary by-election since the party's recently elected leader William Hague's victory in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 1989. During his political career he has sat on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee and its Environment Sub-Committee. He is strongly against the expansion of Heathrow Airport. In 1999 he was appointed as an

Opposition Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

, but, due to his opposition to Britain's involvement in the Iraq War, he resigned as a matter of conscience in March 2003. He was later reappointed as a Whip in 2003. At the end of 2005 he was promoted to Conservative Assistant Chief Whip. In 2010 he was appointed the joint Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of Her Majesty's Household in the

Coalition Government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 9 June 2010. He resigned from the government with praise to

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

on 6 October 2013, amid a cabinet reshuffle. On 21 October 2013 it was announced that he was to receive a knighthood, having the accolade bestowed by The Prince of Wales on 12 February 2014. On 10 July 2014, Randall announced that he would not be standing as a parliamentary candidate for the seat at the 2015 general election.

House of Lords

On 18 May 2018, it was announced he would be elevated to the House of Lords. On 25 June, he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Randall of Uxbridge, of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Outside Parliament

In February 2016 he was appointed Special Envoy on Modern Slavery to the Mayor of London, alongside Anthony Steen CBE.

Personal life

Lord Randall married Katherine Frances Gray in 1986; the couple have two sons and a daughter. Randall is a keen supporter of Uxbridge Football Club and

Saracens Rugby Club Saracens Rugby Club () are an English professional rugby union club based in North London, England. As of the current 2022–23 season, they compete in Premiership Rugby, the highest tier competition in English rugby, as well as the domestic P ...

References

External links

John Randall MP
Official website

Biography- House of Lords
John Randall General Election 2010
Campaign site for Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_randall/uxbridge_and_south_ruislip TheyWorkForYou.com – John Randall MP* {{DEFAULTSORT:Randall, John 1955 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of University College London Alumni of the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies Alumni of the University of London UK MPs 2010–2015 Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom