Rod Richards

Infobox Politician
name=Rod Richards

---

order=
office= Assembly Member for North Wales
term_start = 1999
term_end = 2002
predecessor = (new post)
successor =David Jones
constituency = North Wales Region
office2 = Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly
term_start2 = 1999
term_end2 = 1999
predecessor2 = (new post)
successor2 = Nick Bourne
constituency_MP3 = North West Clwyd
parliament3 =
majority3 =
predecessor3 = Sir Anthony Meyer
successor3 = (constituency abolished)
term_start3 = 1992
term_end3 = 1997
birth_date = Birth date and age|1947|03|12|df=yes
birth_place = flagicon|Wales Llanelli, Wales
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Conservative
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Llandovery College, Swansea University
occupation = Royal Marines, Ministry of Defence, Journalist, Broadcaster
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

Rod (Roderick) Richards (born Llanelli 12 March 1947) was the Conservative Member of Parliament for North West Clwyd, in Wales, from 1992 to 1997, when he lost his seat in the Labour Party landslide. He was also the Conservative leader in the Welsh Assembly in 1999, after being elected as an Assembly Member for North Wales.

Background

Welsh speaking, Mr Richards was educated at Llandovery College and Swansea University. He first rose to public prominence in the 1980s as a Welsh-language newsreader for BBC Wales. Before that, he had spent some time in the Royal Marines, including service in Northern Ireland. He also served on the intelligence staff of the Ministry of Defence, and worked as an economic forecaster. [cite web | title=BBC News AMs profile | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/uk/wales/13120.stm Rod Richards| accessdate=1999-09-01]

Political career

UK Parliament

He first tried to enter parliament at the 1987 general election, when he stood unsuccessfully for the Carmarthen seat. He was unsuccessful again two years later at a by-election for the Vale of Glamorgan, but at the 1992 general election he was elected as MP for the former parliamentary seat of Clwyd North West. During John Major's government he was appointed Welsh Office junior minister in 1996, but was forced to resign when revelations about his private life appeared in a Sunday tabloid newspaper. [cite web | title=BBC News AMs profile | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/uk/wales/13120.stm Rod Richards| accessdate=1999-09-01]

National Assembly for Wales

Although defeated in his constituency seat during the first Welsh Assembly elections in 1999, he was elected to the new body as lead candidate on the Conservatives' regional top-up list. He was appointed the Conservative party leader in the Welsh Assembly defeating Nick Bourne [cite web | title=BBC News AMs profile | work=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/uk/wales/13120.stm Rod Richards| accessdate=1999-09-01] , who was then widely regarded as William Hague's first choice for the job (and eventually went on to become leader), but stood down after he was accused of assaulting a young woman. He was cleared of assault in June 2000.

Rod Richards had the party whip withdrawn from him following his decision to abstain rather than vote with his fellow Conservatives against the Assembly's budget at the end of 1999. He continued to sit in the Assembly, as an 'Independent Conservative' until 2002 when he resigned as an Assembly Member (AM), saying he was leaving the assembly immediately in the interests of his health.

Personal

At the High Court in London in February 2003, Rod Richards was declared bankrupt with debts estimated at more than £300,000.

On 30 April 2006 he entered the debate regarding John Prescott's marital affair. Speaking on a Radio Five Live phone in, Richards described how after his own affair in 1996, Prescott had acted in an 'ungentlemanly' fashion, both in public and in private.

It was reported on 17 April 2008 that Richards had been arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a Conservative party worker. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7351866.stm Ex-MP arrested in assault claim] ] He was later released after receiving a caution from police.

References

Offices held

Persondata
NAME=Richards, Roderick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Known as Rod Richards
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Welsh Conservative Party politician; MP 1992-97, AM 1999–2002
DATE OF BIRTH=12 March 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH=Llanelli, Wales
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=