Richard Andrew Ryder, Baron Ryder of Wensum, (born 4 February 1949) is a British Conservative Party politician. A former Member of Parliament (MP) and government minister, he was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in 1997 and was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1997 to 2021.

Early life

Born 4 February 1949, Ryder was educated at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. In the

1981 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1981 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

Ryder was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE), for political service.

Parliamentary career

Having unsuccessfully fought the Labour seat of Gateshead East in

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

and October 1974, Ryder was elected at the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...

as MP for the

Mid Norfolk Mid Norfolk is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2010 by George Freeman (po ...

constituency. From 1990 to 1995, he was the government's

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

. This period includes the Conservative backbench rebellion over the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...

. The maverick MPs, known as the

Maastricht Rebels The Maastricht Rebels were British Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the then governing Conservative Party who refused to support the government of Prime Minister John Major in a series of votes in the House of Commons on the issue of ...

, were under intense pressure from the government whips but still brought the administration of

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

close to collapse. Ryder retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1997 general election, and was created a

as Baron Ryder of Wensum, of

Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation. The Wensum is ...

in the County of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

on 22 November 1997. He retired from the Lords on 12 April 2021.

Outside Parliament

He became Vice-Chairman of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on 1 January 2002 for a four-year term. Ryder was appointed Acting Chairman of the BBC following the resignation of

Gavyn Davies Gavyn Davies, (born 27 November 1950) is a former Goldman Sachs partner who was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004. On 28 January 2004 he announced that he was resigning his BBC post following the publication of the Hutton Inquiry r ...

on 28 January 2004. Davies resigned following the criticism of the BBC in the

Hutton Report The Hutton Inquiry was a 2003 judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Brian Hutton, Baron Hutton, Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour Party (UK), Labour government to investigate the controversial circumstances surrounding the death of Dav ...

, which was set up to investigate "the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly". One of Ryder's first acts as chairman was to give a televised statement, during which he offered an unreserved apology for the mistakes made during the Dr. Kelly affair. This apology was criticised by many, including departing

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing " t ...

, as overdone. In the same statement Ryder announced that the process to select a new Chairman had begun, and that he would not be putting his name forward.

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...

was appointed on 2 April 2004 and took up his post on 17 May; Ryder resumed the post of Vice-Chairman. Ryder resigned early on 1 August 2004, after which the position was assumed by

Anthony Salz Sir Anthony Michael Vaughan Salz (born 30 June 1950) is a British solicitor. He sat on the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1 August 2004, after the resignation of the former Vice Chairman, Lord Ryder, and was Acting Chairman in 2006 following ...

. Ryder was the Chairman of the

Institute of Cancer Research The Institute of Cancer Research (the ICR) is a public research institute and a member institution of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, specialising in oncology. It was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Ma ...

, and is a director of

Ipswich Town F.C. Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football ...

Family

A nephew of

Sue Ryder Margaret Susan Cheshire, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw, Baroness Cheshire, (; 3 July 1924 – 2 November 2000), commonly known as Sue Ryder, was a British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, and a member of th ...

, later Baroness Ryder and Cheshire, he married in 1981 Caroline Stephens , only daughter of Sir David Stephens and Clemency Gore-Browne. Lord and Lady Ryder of Wensum had two children.

References

External links

*
BBC News Profile
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryder, Richard 1949 births Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge BBC governors Chairmen of the BBC Conservative Party (UK) life peers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Radley College UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 United Kingdom Paymasters General Officers of the Order of the British Empire Life peers created by Elizabeth II Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014