Richard Thain Alexander (29 June 1934 – 20 April 2008) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Newark in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

until losing his seat in the landslide of the 1997 general election.

Early life

Alexander was born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, although his father was an architect from

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

. He went to Logie Coldstone prep school in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

and Dewsbury Grammar School and the Wheelwright School in Dewsbury,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

before studying law at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and then at the

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) is a member institute of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Founded in 1947, it is a national academic centre of excellence, serving the legal community and universities across the ...

. He was articled in London, and then worked as a solicitor in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

from 1960 to 1964 and then in

Retford Retford (), also known as East Retford, is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England, and one of the oldest English market towns having been granted its first charter in 1105. It lies on the River Idle and the Chesterf ...

from 1964 to 1985.

Political career

Having joined the Young Conservatives in 1957, Alexander served on their National Advisory Committee in 1961 and fought his first elections in 1962 and 1963, standing (unsuccessfully) for

Town Council. He was elected to Retford Borough Council in 1965 and to

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

in 1967, serving until 1974. He was elected to

Bassetlaw District Council Bassetlaw may refer to: * Bassetlaw (UK Parliament constituency), Nottinghamshire constituency in the British House of Commons * Bassetlaw District General Hospital, a National Health Service hospital in Worksop, Nottinghamshire * Bassetlaw Distr ...

in 1975, and he was Mayor of Retford in 1977–78. He was a parliamentary candidate for

in 1966 and again in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, but he was not chosen by the right-wing local party to fight the by-election of 1973. The seat was won by the sitting MP, Dick Taverne, each time. At the 1979 general election, Alexander narrowly and unexpectedly beat the popular Labour MP for Newark, Edward Stanley Bishop despite the remaining presence of working mines in the constituency. He adopted a maverick approach in 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. T ...

, and was never made a Minister. He was fully in support of the Conservatives on defence issues, describing

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

's approach to the Falklands war as a "''prima facie'' case of treason and sedition" and strongly opposing the "no first use" pledge on nuclear weapons. On other issues he was more moderate, being a member of the

Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality The Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality (TORCHE) was a British LGBT conservative organization. In 1975, it was founded as the Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality (CGHE), also called GayCon, by Peter Walter Campbell. The CGHE was a vol ...

for a time (he resigned over a controversial article which suggested that Prince Charles should embrace Prince Edward in order to advance their campaign). Alexander could also appear a classic Tory. He faithfully supported

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, bridled at the poor dress sense of the Labour MP Terry Fields (a member of the Militant group), supported rate capping of left-wing councils, and sought the abolition of Wages Councils which set minimum pay rates. His majority was substantially increased at the 1983 general election, after boundary changes removing the mining area to the neighbouring Sherwood constituency (although that too went Conservative in 1983). He also supported the

Union of Democratic Mineworkers The Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM) was a British trade union for coal miners based in Nottinghamshire, England, established in 1985, after the 1984–85 miners' strike, when the Nottinghamshire Area of the National Union of Mineworke ...

in the 1984 UK miners' strike, but criticised the 31 pit closures announced by

Michael Heseltine Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, (; born 21 March 1933) is a British politician and businessman. Having begun his career as a property developer, he became one of the founders of the publishing house Haymarket. Heseltine served ...

in October 1992. He was one of many Conservative MPs to lose their seats in the Labour landslide at the 1997 general election. The victor,

Fiona Jones Fiona Elizabeth Ann Jones (née Hamilton; 27 February 1957 – 28 January 2007) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. She was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Newark in Labour's landslide victory in the 1997 general e ...

, was convicted of falsifying her election expenses in March 1999, and Alexander was to stand at the resulting by-election, but the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in April 1999 with no need for a by-election. After his time in Parliament, Alexander was subsequently elected to serve as a councillor for the Magnus ward of

Newark and Sherwood District Council Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-th ...

Personal life

He married Valerie Ann Winn in 1966. They had a son and a daughter. He separated from his first wife in 1979 and they were divorced in 1985. He remarried in 1987, to Pat Hanson. Alexander died aged 73 at Beaumond House Community Hospice,

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

, after a short battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

References

External links

*
Obituary: ''The Daily Telegraph'', 22 April 2008

Obituary: ''The Times'', 5 May 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Richard 1934 births 2008 deaths Politicians from Aberdeen Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Alumni of University College London English solicitors Deaths from cancer in England Councillors in Nottinghamshire Mayors of places in Nottinghamshire Members of Nottinghamshire County Council 20th-century English lawyers