Richard Welch is an Australian politician who currently serves as a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

for the

North-Eastern Metropolitan Region North-Eastern Metropolitan Region, previously Eastern Metropolitan Region between 2006 and 2022, is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as t ...

. He entered parliament on 7 February 2024, having won 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. For example, while the political systems ...

's preselection on 3 December 2023 to replace the retiring Matthew Bach. Welch was previously an unsuccessful candidate for the state electoral district of Yan Yean in the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Victorian Legislat ...

, for the federal

Division of McEwen The Division of McEwen is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Classed as a rural seat, the electorate is loc ...

in the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

, and for the federal

Division of Jagajaga The Division of Jagajaga is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located in the north-eastern suburbs o ...

in the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 18 May 2019, to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissol ...

. Prior to entering politics, he worked in financial services for

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

in London. After an MBA at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, Welch invented, patented and manufactured motion-tracking technology used in cricket.

References

Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council 21st-century Australian politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Imperial College London {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub