Graham Edward Galloway Riddick (born 26 August 1955, Long Preston,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

) was the Conservative Party member of parliament (MP) for

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England from 1987 to 1997.

Family and early life

His father ran the family's cotton mill in

Nelson, Lancashire Nelson is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, it had a population of 29,135 in the 2011 Census. Nelson is north of Burnley and south-west of Colne. Nelson developed as a mill town ...

until its closure in the early 1960s. Riddick's maternal grandfather, Edward Ruggles-Brise was Conservative MP for

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

from 1922 to 1942. Riddick was educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

and, for one year only,

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

; he is married with three children. Before he became an MP, Riddick worked for 10 years in various sales management roles with

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

(1977–82) and Coca-Cola Schweppes Beverages (1982–87). He won his seat in Parliament at the 1987 election becoming the first ever Conservative MP in Colne Valley's 102 year-history. He retained it at the 1992 election, increasing his majority from 1,677 in 1987 to 7,224 in 1992.

''Sunday Times'' allegations

In July 1994, a "sting operation" by ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' implicated Riddick in the " Cash for Questions" affair. Two reporters from the newspaper posed as people wishing to have questions asked in the House of Commons. Both Riddick and fellow Conservative MP David Tredinnick were accused of accepting cash for asking questions. Riddick initially agreed to work for the journalist but on receiving a cheque from the reporter, he returned it immediately, before he knew that the reporter was working for a newspaper. When ''The Sunday Times'' reported the story Riddick immediately apologised to Parliament but was subsequently found to be in breach of Parliamentary rules and was suspended for 10 days.Cash-for-questions MPs suspended by Commons
/ref>

Later career

Riddick was Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Francis Maude Francis Anthony Aylmer Maude, Baron Maude of Horsham, (born 4 July 1953) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served as Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General from 2010 to 2015. He also served ...

, Financial Secretary to the Treasury between 1990 and 1992. He was also Parliamentary Private Secretary to John MacGregor, Secretary of State for Transport from 1992 until July 1994 when Macgregor left the Cabinet. Riddick served on the Education and Employment Select Committee between 1994 and 1997. He was also a member of the Broadcasting Select Committee and the Deregulation Select Committee between 1995 and 1997. He contested his seat again at the 1997 general election, but lost to the Labour Party's Kali Mountford, who won with a majority of 4,840.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riddick, Graham 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Stowe School People from Long Preston UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997