Richard Quentin Fuller (born 30 May 1962) is a British politician who served as the
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the sixth-most senior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, after the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the ...
from July to October 2022. He has been
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 of ...
(MP) for
North East Bedfordshire
North East Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Richard Fuller, of the Conservative Party.
Constituency profile
This is a mainly rural, professional area, ...
since
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. 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 represented
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
from
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
to
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
. He had previously achieved prominence as a leader of the Young Conservatives.
Early life
Fuller was educated at Hazeldene School and
Bedford Modern School
Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowment, endowments le ...
(then a direct grant school), followed by
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
(1981–84), where he studied Politics, Philosophy & Economics, and
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
(1987–89) for his MBA.
Fuller was President of the
Oxford University Conservative Association
The Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) is a student Conservative association founded in 1924, whose members are drawn from the University of Oxford. Since October 2009, OUCA has been affiliated to Conservative Future and its su ...
(OUCA) in 1983. Following the failed nomination of Conservative candidates for the
Oxford University Student Union
The Oxford University Student Union is the official students' union of the University of Oxford. It is better known in Oxford under the branding Oxford SU or by its previous name of OUSU. It exists to represent Oxford University students in t ...
(OUSU), Oxford's student paper ''
Cherwell'' ran the headline "OUCA falls apart" and Fuller lost a vote of confidence but remained in office. As President, Fuller also provided the first
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 ...
platform for the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
, then a proscribed
terrorist organisation
A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
in then still
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
but not proscribed in the UK.
Professional career
Fuller joined the management consultancy company,
LEK Consulting in 1984 as part of their first intake of university graduates. In 1986, Fuller transferred to Sydney to help establish the Australian practice of LEK. After Harvard Business School, he worked in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, before rejoining LEK in Australia and then working for two years on assignment with the
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
(PLDT) in
Manila, Philippines
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
. In 2000, he joined the alternative assets firm,
Investcorp
Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in Bahrain in 1982, the firm has offices in United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, India, China, ...
, to help establish their technology ventures group. Fuller joined the board of the Osborne Association, a New York-based charity working with offenders and ex-offenders in 2002. Fuller moved to the United States in 2004 and rejoined LEK in Los Angeles in 2007. He became a non-executive director of Impero Software prior to returning to Parliament in 2019.
Political career
Fuller joined 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 ...
and began delivering leaflets for
Trevor Skeet
Sir Trevor Herbert Harry Skeet (28 January 1918 – 14 August 2004) was a New Zealand-born lawyer and a British Conservative Party politician.
Early life
Skeet was born in Auckland, New Zealand and was educated at King's College, Auckland and th ...
, the
MP for Bedford during the
1979 general election. As a Young Conservative Fuller became a member of the moderate (
Tory Reform Group
The Tory Reform Group (TRG) is a pressure group associated with the British Conservative Party that works to promote "modern, progressive Conservatism... economic efficiency and social justice" and "a Conservatism that supports equality, divers ...
) faction that controlled the National Young Conservatives, in opposition to
Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club (usually known as the Monday Club) is a British political pressure group, aligned with the Conservative Party, though no longer endorsed by it. It also has links to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unioni ...
and libertarian elements attempting to wrest control of the movement.
Young Conservatives
Fuller was elected National Chairman of the
Young Conservatives from 1985 to 1987, campaigning on social issues such as housing, changes to drugs policies as well as on tackling unemployment.
Fuller continued the anti-apartheid policies initiated under previous YC chairmen
Iain Picton,
Phil Pedley and
John Guthrie. His position was backed by the YC National Conference which endorsed in a motion at the 1986 Conference despite vocal opposition from right-wing FCS members.
'This conference utterly condemns the apartheid regime in South Africa and congratulates the firm stand of the Foreign Secretary in seeking a rapid and peaceful transformation of South African society.'
National YC Report on Infiltration & Extremism
The National YC Report was passed in 1984 under Phil Pedley's Chairmanship. Fuller resisted pressure from Conservative Central Office to withdraw support from Pedley who (
along with the BBC) was being sued by
Harvey Proctor
Keith Harvey Proctor (born 16 January 1947) is a British former Conservative Member of Parliament. A member of the Monday Club, he represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became embroiled in a scandal i ...
,
Neil Hamilton and
Gerald Howarth
Sir James Gerald Douglas Howarth (born 12 September 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot from 1997 until 2017, having been the MP for Cannock and Burntwood from 1983 to 1992.
He wa ...
. When the BBC Governors suddenly intervened and ordered the trial be abandoned, Fuller voiced his concerns as to why the trial had been abruptly abandoned. Addressing an Eastern Area Young Conservative Conference, he said:
"I find it strange that they have apparently decided to settle now, when things appeared to be going well."[Peter Fiddick and Dennis Barker, "BBC in crisis over libel case deal", ''The Guardian'', 20 October 1986]
Concern grew over the actions of Malcolm McAlpine, a BBC Governor and a cousin of
Alistair McAlpine
Robert Alistair McAlpine, Baron McAlpine of West Green (14 May 1942 – 17 January 2014) was a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
McAlpine was descended from the McAlpine baronet ...
, the treasurer of the Conservative Party. "He denied yesterday that he had promised Mr Hamilton that he could "deliver" the governors behind a settlement."
[ ''The Times'' reported that: "Mr Richard Fuller, YC Chairman and a member of the group which endorsed the infiltration report by 39 votes to one, pledged financial backing to Philip Pedley who announced he was fighting on."
]
Parliament
Fuller stood as the Conservative candidate for the Bedford constituency in the 2005 general election, losing to the incumbent Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
MP Patrick Hall. Fuller stood again for the Bedford constituency in the 2010 general election, and was elected to office on 6 May 2010, replacing Patrick Hall. He was re-elected in the 2015 general election, but lost to the Labour candidate in the 2017 general election
This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 November ...
. As MP, Fuller led successful campaigns to retain key services at Bedford Hospital and to enable the establishment of Bedford Free School. Fuller launched a venture fund to invest in local businesses and ran the Bedford Community Business School. In October 2014, Fuller was one of 39 Conservative MPs who voted in favour of recognising Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
.
Fuller stood and won in North East Bedfordshire
North East Bedfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Richard Fuller, of the Conservative Party.
Constituency profile
This is a mainly rural, professional area, ...
in the 2019 general election following Alistair Burt
Alistair James Hendrie Burt (born 25 May 1955) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 until ...
's decision to stand down after having the whip removed and then returned.
Fuller was a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department f ...
from 2015 to 2017 and rejoined the Committee following the 2019 general election. Fuller played a leading role in the inquiry into the sale and acquisition of BHS and later proposed the first successful motion in th
House of Commons to recommend the removal of a knighthood
Fuller campaigned against the use of detention for immigration purposes achieving restrictions on the detention of pregnant women and co-authoring the 2015 report, "The Use of Immigration Detention in the UK" by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration.
Fuller was one of 158 MPs who supported Brexit ahead of the 2016 EU Referendum.
Fuller was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the sixth-most senior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, after the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the ...
by outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
, following the resignation of John Glen during the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis
In early July 2022, 62 of the United Kingdom's 179 government ministers, parliamentary private secretaries, trade envoys, and party vice-chairmen resigned from their positions in the second administration formed by Boris Johnson as Prime Min ...
. He left this position following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...
’s first Cabinet reshuffle. He was replaced by Andrew Griffith MP.
References
External links
Richard Fuller MP
''official website''
Profile
at the Conservative Party
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Richard
Living people
1962 births
People educated at Bedford Modern School
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
People from Bedford
UK MPs 2010–2015
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association
Harvard Business School alumni
Politics of the Borough of Bedford
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2019–present