Richard Lawson is an environmentalist and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Born in 1946, Lawson became a doctor in 1969 and joined the

Ecology Party The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1985 it was called the Ecology Party, and before that PEOPLE. In 1990, it separated into three political parties: * the Green Par ...

, forerunner of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

, in about 1977. In 1979, he joined a

general practice General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be describe ...

Congresbury Congresbury is a village and civil parish on the northwestern slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England, which in 2011 had a population of 3,497. It lies on the A370 between Junction 21 of the M5 and Bristol Airport, south of Bri ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. He was elected to Woodspring District Council in 1986.Richard Lawson
Green Party At the 1987 general election he stood in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

, taking 3.6% of the votes cast and finishing fourth of four candidates, and at the

1989 European Parliament election The 1989 European Parliament election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was the third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other m ...

, he took 23% of the vote and second place in Somerset and Dorset West. In 1983, Lawson and his medical partner called a village meeting to consider what the impact of a nuclear attack would be on their village. After describing the effects of radiation sickness that would be untreatable in a world where the production of water, food, energy, law and order and medicine would be gravely compromised, the villagers voted 62-16 to accept suicide pills from their GPs. The plans to provide these pills were interrupted by the General Medical Council, who indicated that they would not regard this favourably. However, the story was reported as far away a
Australia
and Japan. In 1992, Lawson became

Principal Speaker The Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales is the most senior political figure within the Green Party of England and Wales. The role was introduced alongside that of deputy leader in 2008. Prior to this, the party's public spokespersons ...

of the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

, alongside

Jean Lambert Jean Denise Lambert (born Jean Denise Archer; 1 June 1950 in Orsett, Essex) is an English politician, and who served as a Member of the European Parliament for the London Region between 1999 and 2019. Early life and career She attended Palmer ...

. He stood again in Weston-super-Mare at the general election, but his share of the vote fell to 2.0% and he again finished last. Lawson later served as Health Speaker of the party. In 1996 he authored Bills of Health,
Radcliffe a study of the impact of political and economic conditions on the National Health Service (England), National Health Service (NHS). He stood in Woodspring at the

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 ...

and 2001 general elections finishing fifth on both occasions with 1.2% and 2.6% of the vote respectively, and was second on the party's

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

list at the 1999 European election, but never came close to election. At the 2009 European election, he took the fourth place on the party's South West England list but was again unsuccessful. Lawson stood for Parliament in Weston-super-Mare again in the 2015 general election, finishing fifth with 4.9% of the vote. In his spare time, Lawson was previously a

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame cover ...

pilot, and invented a double film aerofoil sail. He also composes

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and has led a campaign for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

to compile
Global Index of Human Rights

References

External links

His blog — Mabinogogiblog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Richard Living people Councillors in South West England 20th-century English medical doctors Green Party politicians (UK) Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates 1946 births