Richard Anthony Nelson
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Richard Anthony Nelson (born 11 June 1948) is a former British politician and banker. He was educated at
Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...
, where he was head of school, and
Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
, where he gained a MA (Hons) in economics and law. Having unsuccessfully stood for Leeds East in
February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) * A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The blaze began on ...
, he was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Chichester in October 1974 and remained in that office until he stood down at the 1997 general election and resumed a career in banking as Vice Chairman of
Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
.


Political career

In 1988, as a
backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
Nelson introduced a successful private members bill to televise the House of Commons despite Margaret Thatcher being against the move. Initially this was for an 18-month trial period before becoming permanent after support from key parliamentarians (including the
Deputy speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
Betty Boothroyd).BBC News: 18 November 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8367150.stm He also introduced a number of amendments to legislation enhancing the protection of investors, depositors and policy holders. As a Minister, Nelson was responsible for economic and monetary policy as well as supervision of the financial services industry under successive Chancellors of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont and Kenneth Clarke. As Minister for Trade and Industry, he was responsible for export policy and promotion as well as the Reconstruction and Renewal of Lloyd's of London. Before joining Parliament, Nelson founded the Action Group for Penal Reform, was a founder member of the National Victims Association and a member of the Council of the Howard League. In Parliament, he served as a member of the Select Committee on Science and Technology 1975–79. He was
Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to the Minister for Housing and Construction 1979–1983 and to the Minister for the Armed Forces 1983–85. He was Economic Secretary to the Treasury 1992–94; Minister of State at the Treasury 1994–5; and Minister of State at the Department for Trade and Industry 1995–97. An ardent pro-European in and out of Parliament, Nelson took over from Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge as Chairman of
Britain in Europe Until August 2005, Britain in Europe was the main British pro-European pressure group. Despite connections to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, it was a cross-party organisation with supporters from many different political backgrounds. Initia ...
in 2004.


Business career

After leaving Cambridge in 1969, Nelson joined the merchant bank,
N M Rothschild & Sons Rothschild & Co is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company, and the flagship of the Rothschild banking group controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family. The banking business o ...
, where he worked as an asset manager and research analyst. He was a director on the board of the Chichester Festival Theatre 1982−92. After leaving Government and Parliament in 1997, he joined Schroder Salomon Smith Barney as a Managing Director and was appointed Vice Chairman of Citigroup 2000−08. He was Chairman of
Southern Water Southern Water is the private utility company responsible for the public wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for the public water supply and distribution in approximately ...
2002-04 and Chairman of Gateway to London, a public private partnership engaged in the regeneration of East London, 2002−08. Nelson was also a Governor of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (now the Institute of Financial Services); a Director of International Financial Services London (now TheCityUK) and a member of the Governing Body of the International Chamber of Commerce UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.


Personal life

Anthony Nelson is the son of the late Group Captain Gordon Nelson and Mrs J.M. Nelson. He was born in
Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
. In 1974, he married Caroline Victoria Butler and they have two children, Charlotte-Anne (b 1979) and Carlton (b 1981), both of whom are married.


References

*


External links

* * – Documentary from BBC Parliament on the televising of the House of Commons including extensive interview clips with Anthony Nelson. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Anthony Richard Living people 1948 births People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Labour Party (UK) politicians