Richard Graham (politician)

Richard Graham MP
Member of Parliament for Gloucester
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Parmjit Dhanda
Majority	7,241 (8.8%)
Personal details
Born	(1958-04-04) 4 April 1958
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservatives
Spouse(s)	Anthea Graham
Children	3
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Website	Official Website

Richard Michael John Ogilvie Graham (born 4 April 1958)^[1] is a British Conservative Party politician, who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gloucester.^[2]

Personal life and charities

Graham was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford where he was an exhibitioner in Modern History.^[3] Whilst at Oxford University, he was a Cadet with the Oxford University Air Squadron.

Graham has played international squash and still plays cricket for Gloucester City Winget Cricket Club and the Gloucestershire Over 50s.^[4] He was previously a Director of the charitable company Care for Children, which organises and trains foster parents for Chinese orphans.^[5] In 2010, Graham created the first Gloucester History Festival and chairs the Gloucester History Committee.^[6] He is also a trustee of the Gloucestershire Community Foundation,^[7] Patron of the Discover de Crypt project ^[8] and an Hon. Member of the Showmen's Guild.

Early career

Graham was previously an airline manager, a diplomat and a pensions manager. He started with John Swire and Sons and became general manager of Cathay Pacific Airways in France at 24 and in the Philippines at 26, concurrently Vice-chairman of the board of Airline Representatives. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986, and was Second, later First, Secretary, in the British High Commission Nairobi and then British Trade Commissioner China, First Secretary British Embassy Beijing and HM Consul Macao (1989–1992). Graham joined Barings plc as its Chief Representative China in 1993, and became a director of Baring Asset Management in 1996.^[9]

Graham has lived and worked in ten countries, speaks eight languages, and according to his website is the only parliamentarian who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin.^[10]

Political career

Graham was elected as a Cotswold district councillor in 2003, becoming Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in 2006.^[11]

He unsuccessfully contested the Conservative Party Stroud Parliamentary nomination and the South West of England in the 2004 European elections.

In the run up to the 2010 General Election, Graham was criticised by the incumbent Gloucester Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda and Stroud MP David Drew for using members and supporters of the Heythrop Hunt^[12] to campaign and leaflet on his behalf.^[13]

Following his election to the House of Commons in 2010, Graham was a member of the Select Committee for Work and Pensions May–November 2010, and since July 2015.^[14] He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Lord Howell from November 2010 to September 2012. He was also Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Hugo Swire, Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office until 2014.

In June 2010, his first debate in Parliament regarding apprenticeships and their importance to Gloucester was cancelled after he arrived late. Graham later blamed a 'Printer Error'.^[15] Graham also apologised to the Serjeant at Arms in 2010 after he shared a photo taken of him in the House of Commons Chamber. Photography is only permitted by the Speaker in exceptional circumstances.^[16]

In November 2012, Graham was appointed Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Indonesia.^[17] In January 2016 he was also appointed the Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Malaysia, the Philippines, and the ASEAN Economic Community.^[18]

Graham chairs the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Pensions, Indonesia, China, and Marine Energy and Tidal Lagoons.

In 2013, he successfully campaigned for stronger dangerous driving sentencing laws.^[19] The road safety charity Brake later withdrew an award they had given him for this campaign^[20] after he was given a six-month driving ban for speeding in July 2015.^[21]

In November 2014,a visit by a cross-party group of parliamentarians to China, led by Peter Mandelson, had to be cancelled at the last minute, as Graham was denied a visa to China following a Westminster debate on the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong where he voiced his support for the protesters' human rights demands.^[22]

In November 2015, the online community noted that Graham had quoted Joseph Goebbels "if you've nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" in defence of a new Surveillance Bill during a House of Commons debate. "The Independent" pointed out that William Haig had also used the same phrase whilst Graham dismissed the argument as "clearly absurd" as Goebbels would have spoken in German.^[23]

In 2016 Graham was a member of the joint Select Committee which investigated the British Home Stores Pension Fund. He asked Green -who had responded angrily to previous questions about corporate governance -if he regarded the offshore company structure as appropriate for a modern UK company. Green didn't answer directly but said the structuring could have been more aggressive and others were jealous of his success.^[24]

In January 2016 he launched the UKTI Education is GREAT campaign to increase engagement with British education in Malaysia. ^[25]

Graham campaigned to Remain in the European Union during the 2016 referendum^[26] but has since been involved in informal talks regarding future Free Trade Agreements as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to the Philippines.^[27]

Constituency

In January 2013, an Associated press report noted that Graham "drew widespread condemnation" after suggesting that women wearing short skirts and high heels increase their risk of rape.^[28]

In June 2013, he was advised by the Information Commissioner's Office that he was in breach of the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations after sending political campaign emails to people who had contacted him on parliamentary business without first obtaining their permission.^[29]

In 2013 Graham campaigned to add an additional car park to Gloucester Train Station which to provide 245 additional parking spaces.^[30]

In April 2015, Graham was ordered to remove 'interfering' tweets that discussed a murder trial in Gloucester amid claims he was trying to 'win votes' prior to the upcoming General Election.^[31]

In May 2015, immediately after the 2015 the General Election, Graham apologised after being caught parking his official campaign van in a disabled parking bay after a "37 hour day"^[32]

References

External links

• Official Website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou