Samuel Forde Ridley (1864 – 17 November 1944) was a British industrialist and

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 ...

politician. He was son of Samuel Edwin Ridley of

St Helens, Isle of Wight St Helens is a village and civil parish located on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight. The village developed around village greens. This is claimed to be the largest in England but some say it is the second largest. The greens are often us ...

and his wife Nona Jackson Kent. After education at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

he entered the family firm of Ridley, Whitley and Company, linoleum manufacturers. He first entered politics in 1895, when he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative-backed

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liber ...

in the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

elections of that year. In September 1900 he was selected as Conservative and Unionist candidate to contest the parliamentary seat of Bethnal Green South West, held by the prominent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP,

Edward Pickersgill Edward Hare Pickersgill (1850 – 13 October 1911) was an English Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1911. People educated at St Peter's School, York Biography Pickersgill was the son of Thomas Pickersgill, ...

. Ridley's pro war stance saw him unexpectedly take the seat from Pickersgill at the general election of that year. Six years later there was a swing to the Liberals and they regained the Bethnal Green seat. In 1907 the local Conservative association chose a different candidate to contest the constituency at the next general election, with Ridley being rejected due to his views on tariff reform. He was instead chosen to contest the Kent borough of Rochester. He was able to unseat the sitting Liberal MP when an election was held in January 1910, but was himself defeated when a further election was held in December of the same year. In the following year he indicated that he would not contest the seat again. He died at "Pantiles",

Budleigh Salterton Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at t ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in November 1944.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Samuel Forde 1864 births 1944 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs 1910 People educated at Clifton College Politicians from the Isle of Wight Municipal Reform Party politicians