James Randall Couchman (11 February 1942 – 16 November 2023) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1983 to 1997.

Early life

James Randall Couchman was born on 11 February 1942. He was educated at

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principles o ...

and the University of Newcastle and was a London Borough of

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

councillor from 1974 to 1982. He later served as a county councillor in Oxfordshire from 2005 until he retired in 2013.

Political career

Couchman first stood for Parliament at

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, but was beaten by Labour's

Giles Radice Giles Heneage Radice, Baron Radice, (4 October 1936 – 25 August 2022) was a British Labour politician and author. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2001, representing part of County Durham, and then as a life peer in th ...

. Couchman 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 Gillingham from

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

until his defeat in

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 ...

by Labour's Paul Clark. He appeared in a documentary for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's '' Cutting Edge'' entitled ''Last Year's Tories'', which looked at the lives of ten Conservative MPs who had been unseated at the 1997 election, which aired on the first anniversary of their defeat in 1998.

Death

Couchman died on 16 November 2023, at the age of 81.

References

Sources

* "Times Guide to the House of Commons", Times Newspapers Limited, 1997 edition.

External links

* 1942 births 2023 deaths People educated at Cranleigh School Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1940s-stub