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 A Eurosceptic, Shepherd was one of the Maastricht Rebels that had the whip withdrawn over opposition to Prime Minister John Major's legislation on the European Union.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, 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. of Sloane Street and Shepherd Foods in London, operating both enterprises with his family.
One of the most significant events in Shepherd's parliamentary career came in 1988 when he introduced his Protection of Official Information Bill, 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. 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,
He voted against the Cameron–Clegg coalition government in 2013 on the issue of British military intervention in the Syrian civil war.
Shepherd was knighted in the 2013 New Year Honours for public service. He retired from Parliament at the 2015 general election.
Personal life and death
Shepherd never married. He died on 19 February 2022 at the age of 79.
References
External links
- Richard Shepherd MP Conservative Party profile
- Aldridge-Brownhills Conservative Association
- Richard Shepherd at ConservativeHome