{{short description|British politician (1942–2022)}} {{other people}} {{Use British English|date=February 2022}} {{use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Richard Shepherd | honorific_suffix = | image = RichardShepherdMP.jpg | caption = At Silver Street Methodist Church in Brownhills, 2007 | office = Member of Parliament <br /> for Aldridge-Brownhills | parliament = | term_start = 3 May 1979 | term_end = 30 March 2015 | predecessor = Geoff Edge | successor = Wendy Morton | birth_name = Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1942|12|06}} | birth_place = Aberdeen, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|02|19|1942|12|06|df=yes}} | death_place = | spouse = | party = Conservative | relations = | children = | alma_mater = London School of Economics (BSc)<br />Johns Hopkins University (MS) | occupation = | profession = Underwriter | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Sir Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd''' (6 December 1942 – 19 February 2022) was a British politician who was Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills from 1979 to 2015. A Eurosceptic, Shepherd was one of the Maastricht Rebels that had the whip withdrawn over opposition to Prime Minister John Major's legislation on the European Union. Shepherd was also a libertarian Conservative,<ref>{{cite news |title=Time to stand up and be counted? |newspaper=BBC News |date=1 December 1998 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/office_life/224584.stm }}</ref> and had a three line whip imposed against him by Margaret Thatcher when he introduced an amendment to loosen the Official Secrets Act 1911.
== Early life == Shepherd was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1942. His parents were Alfred Shepherd and his wife Davida (nee Wallace), both of whom worked in the commercial aviation industry.<ref name = Telegraph/> The family moved to London to be closer to Heathrow Airport and Shepherd was educated at Isleworth Grammar School (now Isleworth and Syon School).<ref name = Telegraph/><ref name = Bates/> He then went to the London School of Economics where he received a BSc in Economics and where he studied with and became a friend of Robert Kilroy-Silk. He subsequently attended the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in the United States from which he graduated with an MSc which was also in Economics.<ref name = Bates/>
In the 1970s, Shepherd established the retail food businesses Partridges<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.partridges.co.uk/about-us |title=Partridges {{!}} About us |publisher=Partridges |access-date=24 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518010002/https://www.partridges.co.uk/about-us |archive-date=18 May 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref> of Sloane Street and Shepherd Foods in London, operating both enterprises with his family.<ref name = Bates/> He was then an underwriter at Lloyd's of London from 1974 to 1994.<ref name = Telegraph/>
== Parliamentary career == Shepherd contested the open Conservative candidacy in Heston and Isleworth in 1970, but was not selected.<ref name = Telegraph/> He was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Nottingham East at the February 1974 general election, where he was defeated by the Labour Party candidate Jack Dunnett.<ref name = Telegraph/> During the 1970s he was also an assistant to Teddy Taylor.<ref name = Bates/>
Shepherd was elected Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills in 1979. ''The Spectator'' variously cited him as 'Backbencher of the Year' in 1987, 'Troublemaker of the Year' in 1989, and 'Parliamentarian of the Year' in 1995.<ref name = Telegraph/> He was rated as one of the ten most effective sitting MPs in 1989.<ref name = Telegraph/> In 2010, ConservativeHome listed him as one of the most rebellious Tory MPs.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Isaby |first1=Jonathan |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2010/12/the-latest-league-table-of-tory-backbench-rebellion.html |title=Philip Hollobone continues to top the league table of backbench rebels Tory MPs |publisher=Conservativehome.blogs.com |date=15 December 2010 |accessdate=22 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307230411/http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2010/12/the-latest-league-table-of-tory-backbench-rebellion.html |archive-date=7 March 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>
One of the most significant events in Shepherd's parliamentary career came in 1988 when he introduced his Protection of Official Information Bill,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cfoi.org.uk/whistle.html |title=Whistleblowing |publisher=Cfoi.org.uk |accessdate=30 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410112653/http://www.cfoi.org.uk/whistle.html |archive-date=10 April 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which was to replace parts of the Official Secrets Act 1911, with intent to provide limited protection to some whistleblowers. The government introduced a three line whip which called on its MPs to vote against the bill, even though it was introduced by a member of their own party.<ref name = Telegraph/> This brought considerable debate at the time both in parliament and in the media. The bill was defeated. However Shepherd successfully introduced similar provisions into law in 1998.<ref name = Bates/>
Shepherd was one of the Maastricht Rebels, and is known to have had libertarian leanings.<ref name = Bates/> He developed close ties with fellow Maastricht rebels Nicholas Budgen and Christopher Gill, and gave the eulogy at Budgen's funeral.<ref name = Telegraph/>
Shepherd was a strong advocate of Parliament's power to hold the government to account.<ref name="Who will be the next Speaker">{{cite news |title=Who will be the next Speaker? |first=Andrew |last=Sparrow |author2=Owen, Paul |newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 May 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/may/18/who-will-be-the-next-speaker |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306184726/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/may/18/who-will-be-the-next-speaker |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Shepherd stood to be Speaker of the House of Commons in 2000, and won 136 votes: the third-closest to defeating Michael Martin of eleven opponents. When Martin was forced to resign, in 2009, he stood for the position again. An outsider, at 14/1,<ref name="Who will be the next Speaker" /> he won only 15 votes, and was eliminated on the first ballot.<ref>{{cite news |title=Speaker election: candidate pitches and reaction |first=Rosa |last=Prince |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=22 June 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/5603508/Speaker-election-candidate-pitches-and-reaction.html |access-date=2 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203015837/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/5603508/Speaker-election-candidate-pitches-and-reaction.html |archive-date=3 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He voted against the Cameron–Clegg coalition government in 2013 on the issue of British military intervention in the Syrian civil war.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Rowena |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/03/tory-mps-syria-vote-assad-hospitality |title=Nine Tory MPs who did not back Syria strike received Assad's hospitality |access-date=24 February 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=3 September 2013 |language=en}}</ref>
Shepherd was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for public service.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=1 |supp=y }}</ref> He retired from Parliament at the 2015 general election.<ref>{{cite web|work=Walsall Advertiser|title=MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, Sir Richard Shepherd, to step down at next election after 35 years' service|url=http://www.walsalladvertiser.co.uk/MP-Aldridge-Brownhills-Sir-Richard-Shepherd-step/story-23454690-detail/story.html|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110234220/http://www.walsalladvertiser.co.uk/MP-Aldridge-Brownhills-Sir-Richard-Shepherd-step/story-23454690-detail/story.html|archive-date=10 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Shepherd never married. He died on 19 February 2022 at the age of 79.<ref name = Telegraph>{{cite news |title=Sir Richard Shepherd, Tory MP and committed Eurosceptic who rebelled over the Maastricht Treaty – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/02/22/sir-richard-shepherd-tory-mp-committed-eurosceptic-rebelled/ |access-date=23 February 2022 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=22 February 2022|url-access = subscription}}</ref><ref name = Bates>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/22/sir-richard-shepherd-obituary|title = Sir Richard Shepherd obituary|last = Bates|first = Stephen|date = 22 February 2022|accessdate = 22 February 2022|work = The Guardian}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Shepherd_Richard.aspx Richard Shepherd MP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607010025/http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Shepherd_Richard.aspx |date=7 June 2009 }} Conservative Party profile * [http://www.aldridgebrownhillsconservatives.org.uk Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727191414/http://www.aldridgebrownhillsconservatives.org.uk/ |date=27 July 2023 }} * {{UK MP links | parliament = sir-richard-shepherd/295 | hansard = mr-richard-shepherd | guardian = 4730/richard-shepherd | publicwhip = Richard_Shepherd | theywork = richard_shepherd | record = Richard-Shepherd/Aldridge-Brownhills/550 | bbc = 25205.stm | journalisted = }} * [http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/richard-shepherd-mp/ Richard Shepherd] at ''ConservativeHome''
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef|before=Geoff Edge}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills|years=1979–2015}} {{s-aft|after=Wendy Morton}} {{s-end}}
{{Speaker of the British House of Commons election, 2009}} {{Speaker of the British House of Commons election, 2000}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Richard Charles Scrimgeour}} Category:1942 births Category:2022 deaths Category:20th-century British businesspeople Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:British grocers Category:British libertarians Category:Businesspeople from London Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:Insurance underwriters Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni Category:Politicians from Aberdeen Category:Place of death missing Category:Politics of Walsall Category:UK MPs 1979–1983 Category:UK MPs 1983–1987 Category:UK MPs 1987–1992 Category:UK MPs 1992–1997 Category:UK MPs 1997–2001 Category:UK MPs 2001–2005 Category:UK MPs 2005–2010 Category:UK MPs 2010–2015 Category:British Eurosceptics