| Major Richard Foord MP | |
|---|---|
| |
| Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Honiton | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 23 June 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Neil Parish |
| Majority | 6,144 (14.4%) |
| Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard John Foord 13 February 1978[1] Weston-super-Mare, Avon, England |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "wikitext").
|
| Signature | File:Richard Foord signature.svg |
| Website | Template:Official URL |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 2001–2010 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Adjutant General's Corps |
| Battles/wars | Iraq War |
Richard John Foord[2] (/f[unsupported input]d/; born 13 February 1978)[1][3] is a British politician and former British Army officer who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tiverton and Honiton in Devon since 2022.[4] A member of the Liberal Democrats, he won the seat in a by-election held on 23 June 2022, following the resignation due to scandal of the previous Conservative MP Neil Parish.
Early life and education[]
Foord was born in February 1978 [1] in Weston-super-Mare and went to school in Backwell.[5] He has a BA in history from Royal Holloway, University of London, an MSc in global security from Cranfield University and an MBA from the Open University.[6]
Career before politics[]
Having attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Foord was commissioned into the Educational and Training Services Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps of the British Army on 13 April 2001.[7] He was promoted to captain on 13 October 2003.[8] After attending Staff College, he was promoted to major on 31 July 2009.[3][9] He served in both the Balkans and Iraq, receiving three campaign medals.[10][11]
Before the election he was International Collaboration and Export Control Manager at the University of Oxford[12] having previously worked at the University of Exeter since 2010, most recently as acting head of global partnerships.[13][6] He grew up in North Somerset and lived in Yatton for 19 years; by 2017, he lived in Uffculme, Devon.[5]
Political career[]
Foord stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for North Somerset in the 2017 general election, reaching third place.[5] He was elected to parliament in the 2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election. In his victory speech, he made a critique of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's lack of integrity as a leader: "By any measure you are unfit to lead".[14][15]
In January 2023, Foord tabled his first bill in Parliament to legalise wild camping on Dartmoor National Park.[16] This came in the wake of a High Court ruling which saw the assumed right to wild camp at Dartmoor, established by the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act,[17] overturned and replaced by an agreement between the Park Authority and local landowners.[18]
Personal life and interests[]
Foord is married and has three children.[15] He is a member of Sustrans and a qualified mountain leader.[5]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Richard Foord MP". https://twitter.com/RichardFoordLD.
- ↑ "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POLL". Mid Devon District Council. 25 May 2022. https://www.middevon.gov.uk/your-council/voting-elections/2022-elections/tiverton-and-honiton-parliamentary-election/statement-of-persons-nominated-tiverton-and-honiton-parliamentary-constituency/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Diver, Tony (20 May 2022). "Lib Dems 'planting our tanks on the Tories' lawn' by selecting ex-Army Major for 'blue wall' seat". The Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/05/20/lib-dems-planting-tanks-tories-lawn-selecting-ex-army-major/.
- ↑ "Liberal Democrats win Tiverton and Honiton by-election to take Tory seat" (in en). 24 June 2022. https://news.sky.com/story/liberal-democrats-win-tiverton-and-honiton-by-election-to-take-tory-seat-12639148.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ashcroft, Esme (12 May 2017). "Richard Foord - North Somerset's Liberal Democrat for general election 2017". https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/richard-foord-north-somersets-liberal-57745. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Richard Foord". LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-foord-68570517/.
- ↑ "No. 56217". 29 May 2001. p. 6341. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/56217/supplement/6341
- ↑ "No. 57089". 21 October 2003. p. 12990. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/57089/supplement/12990
- ↑ "No. 59146". 4 August 2009. pp. 13373–13376. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/59146/supplement/13373
- ↑ "Richard Foord is our Tiverton and Honiton by-election candidate". https://exeterlibdems.org.uk/en/article/2022/1430655/richard-foord-is-our-tiverton-and-honiton-by-election-candidate.
- ↑ "Meet Richard". https://www.richardfoord.org.uk/meet-richard.
- ↑ "Richard Foord" (in en). University of Oxford. https://researchsupport.admin.ox.ac.uk/people/richard-foord.
- ↑ "Global Partnerships". University of Exeter. https://www.exeter.ac.uk/departments/professionalservices/whatwedo/partnerships/. ("Contacts" tab)
- ↑ Michin, Rod (24 June 2022). "Newly elected Lib Dem MP Richard Foord calls on Boris Johnson to quit". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-neil-parish-lib-dem-liberal-democrat-conservative-b2108358.html.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 O'Leary, Miles (24 June 2022). "Lib Dem by-election win sends 'shockwave' through politics" (in en). DevonLive. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/tiverton-honiton-election-richard-foords-7248692. Includes full text of victory speech
- ↑ "National Parks (Camping) Bill" (in en). Houses of Parliament. https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3408.
- ↑ "Dartmoor Commons Act 1985" (in en). Dartmoor Commoners Council. https://www.dartmoorcommonerscouncil.org.uk/data/uploads/254.pdf.
- ↑ "Dartmoor wild camping agreement reached" (in en). BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64333066.
External links[]
- Official website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
The original article can be found at Richard Foord and the edit history here.