# Nigel Beard

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{{Short description|British politician (1936–2017)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = Nigel Beard MP.jpg
| caption          = Beard as an MP
| parliament       = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP  = Bexleyheath and Crayford
| majority         = 
| term_start       = 1 May 1997
| term_end         = 11 April 2005
| predecessor      = [''Constituency established''](/source/Boundary_commissions_(United_Kingdom))
| successor        = [David Evennett](/source/David_Evennett)
| birth_name       = Christopher Nigel Beard
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1936|10|10}}
| birth_place      = [Leeds](/source/Leeds),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=pwqVEi09xcqm1BPHJcagqA&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=16 April 2023|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref> England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=y|2017|07|31|1936|10|10}}
| death_place      = [Surrey](/source/Surrey), England
| resting_place    = 
| party            = [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(UK))
| spouse           = 
| children         = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       = 
| signature        =  
}}
'''Christopher Nigel Beard''' (10 October 1936 – 31 July 2017) was a British [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) politician who served as [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) for [Bexleyheath and Crayford](/source/Bexleyheath_and_Crayford) in London from 1997 to 2005.

He previously contested several parliamentary constituencies: [Woking](/source/Woking_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) at the [1979 general election](/source/1979_United_Kingdom_general_election), [Portsmouth North](/source/Portsmouth_North) at the [1983 general election](/source/1983_United_Kingdom_general_election) and [Erith and Crayford](/source/Erith_and_Crayford) at the [1992 general election](/source/1992_United_Kingdom_general_election). At the [1997 general election](/source/1997_United_Kingdom_general_election), he was returned as MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford. Before this, he had been senior research manager for [ICI](/source/Imperial_Chemical_Industries) and [Zeneca](/source/AstraZeneca). He retained the seat at the [2001 election](/source/2001_United_Kingdom_general_election) but lost it in the [2005 election](/source/2005_United_Kingdom_general_election) to [David Evennett](/source/David_Evennett) of the [Conservative Party](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)).

Beard was a loyal follower of the Labour whip, voting for the [Iraq War](/source/Iraq_War) and other government policies.<ref>{{cite news |author1=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Nigel Beard |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/mpsuncovered.parliament118 |accessdate=13 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=4 April 2005 }}</ref> He also introduced a [private member's bill](/source/private_member's_bill) to fix [British Summer Time](/source/British_Summer_Time) as standard time all year round. He died at the age of 80 in [Surrey](/source/Surrey)<ref>{{cite web |title=DOR Q3/2017 in SURREY (759-1I) |id= Entry Number 515943226 |url=https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp#Results |website=GRO Online Indexes |publisher=[General Register Office for England and Wales](/source/General_Register_Office_for_England_and_Wales) |access-date=16 April 2023 |url-access=registration}}</ref> after a long illness.<ref>{{cite news |last1=May |first1=Luke |title=Nigel Beard, Bexleyheath's first and only Labour MP, has died aged 80 |url=http://www.bexleytimes.co.uk/news/nigel-beard-bexleyheath-s-first-and-only-labour-mp-has-died-aged-80-1-5139673 |accessdate=10 November 2022 |work=Bexley Times |date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201121246/http://www.bexleytimes.co.uk/news/nigel-beard-bexleyheath-s-first-and-only-labour-mp-has-died-aged-80-1-5139673 |archive-date=1 December 2020 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-new | constituency }}
{{s-ttl
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [Bexleyheath and Crayford](/source/Bexleyheath_and_Crayford)
  | years  = [1997](/source/1997_United_Kingdom_general_election)–[2005](/source/2005_United_Kingdom_general_election)
}}
{{s-aft | after  = [David Evennett](/source/David_Evennett) }}
{{s-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Nigel}}
Category:1936 births
Category:2017 deaths
Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:UK MPs 1997–2001
Category:UK MPs 2001–2005
Category:People educated at Castleford Academy

{{England-Labour-UK-MP-1930s-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nigel Beard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Beard) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Beard?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.