(Alexander) Serge Lourie CF (born 22 February 1946) is a former

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, where he was a local government

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

from 1982 to 2010. He was Chairman of the United Kingdom Housing Trust,

Kingston Hospital Kingston Hospital is an acute hospital in Kingston upon Thames, England. It is managed by the Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It has an Accident & Emergency Unit, a popular midwife-led Maternity unit, and an sexually transmitted infecti ...

NHS Trust and

Sanctuary Housing Sanctuary Housing is a large housing association based in Worcester, England. It is part of the Sanctuary Group, which also includes other businesses such as Sanctuary Care (running more than 100 care homes), Sanctuary Students (accommodation ...

Association. He has also been the General Secretary of

Help the Aged Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based international charity founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner to help disadvantaged older people who were affected by poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to f ...

and a board member of the London Pensions Fund Authority and the Notting Hill Housing Trust.

Early life and education

Lourie was born on 22 February 1946. He is of Russian extraction and is the great-grandson of Lev Philippovitch Wolkenstein. His mother was Anna Rootchenko. He was educated at

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...

and Worcester College, Oxford (1965–68), graduating from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Career

Lourie qualified as a chartered accountant with Cooper Brothers in 1971 (now

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

) and was a Labour Party member of

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

(1971–74) and the Greater London Council (1973–77) where he was chair of scrutiny and vice-chair of finance. He was elected as an

SDP–Liberal Alliance The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. Formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party, the SDP–Liberal Alliance was established in 1981, contest ...

councillor for

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital. Richmond upon Thames ...

in 1982, becoming a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

following the merger of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SDP) and the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in 1988. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, he was re-elected as a Liberal Democrat. Lourie spent fourteen years as Leader, and also served as Deputy Leader and Leader of the Opposition. He lost his seat in 2010. In 1989 he was awarded a fellowship by the

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Winston Churchill Memorial Trusts (WCMT) are three independent but related living memorials to Sir Winston Churchill, based in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They exist for the purpose of administering Churchill Fellowships, a ...

. From 1990 and 1994 he chaired the London Boroughs Grants Committee, awarding grants of around £29m to the

voluntary sector The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit ...

in Greater London. He was a board member of the London Tourist Board where he deputised for the chairman, Sir John Egan. He chaired the Independent Panel on members' remuneration for the

Association of Police Authorities Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

and was a member of the Metropolitan Police Committee. He is a board member of

Richmond Charities The Richmond Charities is an almshouse charity based in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames with its origins dating back to 1600. The charity provides affordable housing for people in housing need. It also administers two relief-in-need ...

and of Kew Community Trust as well as chairing Poems in the Waiting Room, a British charity providing poetry cards to doctors' waiting rooms in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. He was a patron of Cultural Co-operation, a charity that ran world music festivals. In 2015, he was appointed Chairman of the Charity Appeal Committee of

to raise £750,000 to improve the treatment of patients with

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

Personal life

He lives in

, Greater London and is married with two children. He is a regular runner, having completed five marathons, and he runs frequently in the

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lourie, Serge 1946 births Living people Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford British people of Russian descent Councillors in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Leaders of local authorities of England Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Members of the Greater London Council People educated at St Paul's School, London Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the City of Westminster