Background
Bradford is the son of Gerald Bridgeman, 6th Earl of Bradford and Mary Willoughby Montgomery. He succeeded to his father"s title in 1981.
Bradford is the son of Gerald Bridgeman, 6th Earl of Bradford and Mary Willoughby Montgomery. He succeeded to his father"s title in 1981.
He was educated at Saint Ronan"s School, Hawkhurst, and Harrow School, just outside London, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and a Master of Arts in 1973.
Bradford owns Porters English Restaurant in London"s Covent Garden, which he created in 1979, and Covent Garden Grill next door. They closed in January 2015 as the leases were sold back to the landlord. In May 2015 he opened Porters Restaurant in Berkhamsted.
From 1986 to 1999 he was Chairman of Weston Park Enterprises.
Because the 6th Earl left the family with large death duties, Bradford gifted his home Weston Park and 1,000 acres to the nation in 1986, with the support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, to the Weston Park Foundation. As of 1998, he is Chairman of Very Important Person Internet Limited, a website design company, which also operates its own websites, such as Stately-Homes.com and Virtual-London.com.
He ran again for UKIP in the European Elections for the West Midlands region in 2004, coming eighth, seven candidates were elected. In May 2012 he stood unsuccessfully for the party in a by election in the Hyde Park ward of Westminster City Council, with the support of celebrity nightclub-owner Peter Stringfellow.
Lord Bradford is active in warning people about the sale of false titles of nobility and he has set up a dedicated website, named Fake Titles, to educate the public on the issue.
They divorced in 2006. They have four children:
Alexander Michael Orlando Bridgeman, Viscount Newport (born 6 September 1980)
The Honorary Henry Gerald Orlando Bridgeman (born 18 April 1982), engaged 2013 to Lucinda Bodie
The Honorary
Benjamin Thomas Orlando Bridgeman (born 7 February 1987)
Lady Alicia Rose Bridgeman (born 27 December 1990)
The couple live in Chiswick, west London, where the Earl takes part in community discussions as Richard Bradford.
My Private Parts and The Stuffed Parrot, (1984)The Eccentric Cookbook, (1985)Stately Secrets, (1994)Porters English Cookery Bible – Ancient and Modern, with Carol Wilson, (2004)Porters Seasonal Celebrations Cookbook, with Carol Wilson, (2007).
In 2001, he was a candidate for political office, running as a candidate for the United Kingdom Independence Party, he obtained 5.2% support (2,315 votes) in Stafford, losing to David Kidney, but achieving the 4th best result for the party.
