Background
ALEXANDER, Richard Thain was born on June 29, 1934. Parents: Richard Rennie Alexander and Gladys Alexander.
ALEXANDER, Richard Thain was born on June 29, 1934. Parents: Richard Rennie Alexander and Gladys Alexander.
Dewsbury Grammar School, Yorkshire. University College, London, Bachelor of Laws (Hons). Spoken languages: a little French.
He went to Logie Coldstone prep school in Eastbourne and Dewsbury Grammar School and the Wheelwright School in Dewsbury, Yorkshire before studying law at University College London and then at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. He was articled in London, and then worked as a solicitor in Scunthorpe from 1960-1964 and then in Retford, Nottinghamshire from 1964 to 1985. Having joined the Young Conservatives in 1957, Alexander served on their National Advisory Committee in 1961 and fought his first elections in 1962 and 1963, standing (unsuccessfully) for Scunthorpe Town Council.
He was elected to Retford Borough Council in 1965 and to Nottinghamshire County Council in 1967, serving until 1974.
He was elected to Bassetlaw District Council in 1975, and he was Mayor of Retford in 1977-1978. At the 1979 general election, Alexander narrowly and unexpectedly beat the popular Labour Member of Parliament for Newark, Edward Stanley Bishop despite the remaining presence of working mines in the constituency.
He adopted a maverick approach in the House of Commons, and was never made a Minister. He was fully in support of the Conservatives on defence issues, describing Tony Benn"s approach to the Falklands war as a "prima facie case of treason and sedition" and strongly opposing the "no first use" pledge on nuclear weapons.
Alexander could also appear a classic Tory.
His majority was substantially increased at the 1983 general election, after boundary changes removing the mining area to the neighbouring Sherwood constituency (although that too went Conservative in 1983). He also supported the Union of Democratic Mineworkers in the 1984 United Kingdom miners" strike, but criticised the 31 pit closures announced by Michael Heseltine in October 1992. He was one of many Conservative MPs to lose their seats in the Labour landslide at the 1997 general election.
The victor, Fiona Jones, was convicted of falsifying her election expenses in March 1999, and Alexander was to stand at the resulting by-election, but the conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in April 1999 with no need for a by-election.
After his time in Parliament, Alexander was subsequently elected to serve as a councillor for the Magnus ward of Newark and Sherwood District Council.
Church of England
He was a parliamentary candidate for Lincoln in 1966 and again in 1970, but he was not chosen by the right-wing local party to fight the by-election of 1973.
48th United Kingdom Parliament. 49th United Kingdom Parliament. 50th United Kingdom Parliament.
51st United Kingdom Parliament]
He was Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Newark in Nottinghamshire until losing his seat in the landslide of the 1997 general election.
On other issues he was more moderate, being a member of the Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality for a time (he resigned over a controversial article which suggested that Prince Charles should embrace Prince Edward in order to advance their campaign). He faithfully supported Margaret Thatcher, bridled at the poor dress sense of the Labour Member of Parliament Terry Fields (a member of the Militant group), supported rate capping of left-wing councils, and sought the abolition of Wages Councils which set minimum pay rates.
Spouse Patricia Diane Alexander (née Hunt), 1987. Children: one son, one d.