Richard Scurrah Wainwright (11 April 1918 – 16 January 2003) was a British politician of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He was the MP for

Colne Valley The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield. ...

from 1966 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1987.

Early life and education

Wainwright was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

He then won an open scholarship to

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

(BA

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, 1938). While studying for his degree he developed his interest in the Liberal Party, as a member of the Cambridge University Liberal Club.

Early career

After leaving university he became a Merchant Banker, but later left the profession to focus on his political aspirations. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he registered as a conscientious objector and joined the

Friends' Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914–1919, 1939–1946 and 19 ...

, a Quaker organisation, serving in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

in 1944, and Antwerp the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1944–46.

Parliamentary career

Wainwright stood as the Liberal Party candidate for the constituency of

Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 22,408. History T ...

in the general election of 1950 and again in 1955, but was unsuccessful on both occasions. In 1956 he became the Liberal candidate for

. Standing there as a Liberal in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, the 1963 by-election, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, he increased his vote each time until he finally gained the seat in 1966. At the following election in 1970 he was defeated by the Labour Party's David Clark but regained the seat at the February 1974 election. He retained his seat until his retirement at the 1987 general election. In 1953, Wainwright was elected to the executive of the Liberal Party and served as its Chairman between 1970 and 1972. His particular areas of interest were employment, trade and public finance. From 1961 he concentrated his work at Liberal headquarters on local government. He was a central spokesman for the Liberal Party on finance and represented his party on the Finance Bill Committee in 1968, trade and industry, the economy (1966–1970, 1979–1985) and employment (1985–1987). He was the chairman of the Liberal Party Research Department (1968–1970). After 1974 Wainwright focused on the financial management of the party.

Outside Parliament

After 1987, although retired as an MP, Wainwright continued to be politically active, working for the

Electoral Reform Society The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...

, as well as being a founding member of the executive committee of

Charter 88 Charter 88 was a British pressure group that advocated constitutional and electoral reform and owes its origins to the lack of a written constitution. It began as a special edition of the ''New Statesman'' magazine in 1988 and it took its name ...

. Between 1986 and 1997 he was also Deputy Chairman of the Wider Share Ownership Council. When the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party to become the Liberal Democrats, Wainwright became a member working as President of the Yorkshire Federation of Liberal Democrats (1989–1997). Wainwright was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

lay preacher. Between 1948 and 1958, he served on the Leeds Group B Hospital Management Committee and was Chairman of the Arthington Hospital and Thorp Arch Hospital Committees. He served on the Committee for the Leeds, Skyrac and Morley Savings Bank Board of Managers and the Leeds Library Committee. Further roles included Treasurer of the Leeds Invalid Children's Aid Society and the Bethany House Free Church Probation Home. Between 1959 and 1984, he was a member of the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust Limited (now the

Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust {{Use British English, date=January 2018 The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home ...

). He was also made a Fellow of the Huddersfield Polytechnic (later the

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

) in 1988.

Personal life

His wife Joyce (née Hollis; died 4 February 2011), whom he married in 1948, was an active member of the Yorkshire Women's Liberal Federation, fulfilling roles as both Chairman and President, and Chairman of the Colne Valley Women's Liberal Council (1959–1987). She was also a member of the Executive of the national Women's Liberal Federation. The couple had four children, two of whom entered public life: their son Martin is a former Northern Editor of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper, and their daughter Hilary is a radical academic and editor of '' Red Pepper'' magazine. Wainwright died in Leeds on 16 January 2003, aged 84. The former offices of Greg Mulholland, who was Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West from 2005 to 2017, were named 'Richard Wainwright House' in his honour.

References

External links

Account of the Friend's Ambulance Unit covering the period of Richard Wainwright's service in North-West Europe.

recounts his father and family choosing to give refuge to a displaced Ugandan Asian family in 1972 (Guardian, 15 August 2005)
Papers of Richard Wainwright at LSE Archives
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wainwright, Richard 1918 births 2003 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge British conscientious objectors English Methodists Chairs of the Liberal Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit People educated at Shrewsbury School UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Politicians from Leeds