Constituency : Derby 1900-04 ( Labour ), 1904-10
Richard's defection was ostensibly from the other side although he had won his sat in tandem with the Liberal Thomas Roe in 1900 and had only stood as a Labour candidate because his union demanded it.
Richard was born in Merthyr to English parents. His father was a quarryman who later became a policeman in Glamorgan . Richard had a basic education. He worked for a number of railway companies and rose to become general secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. He was involved in both the Taff Vale and Osborne cases. Once elected, he did not work effectively alongside Keir Hardie as he preferred Liberal policies to socialism. He saw the L.R.C. as a pressure group within the liberal umbrella rather than a truly independent force. Although he was chairman of the Labour Representation Commitee in 1902-03 he chafed against its rules and supported Liberal candidates in by-elections including at Norwich in 1903 where there was a Labour candidate in the field. Despite Richard being president of the T.U.C. that year , the L.R.C. repudiated him in 1904 leaving him free to join the Liberals.
Even after his defection, Richard's parliamentary contributions were mainly on railway matters.
Richard was comfortably re-elected in 1906. In fact he topped the poll. However by 1909 the Derby Trades Council had become dissatisfied with his caution and switched to a Labour candidate from the same union, Jimmy Thomas. Richard resigned his post and retired from Parliament , leaving Thomas to be elected alongside Roe in January 1910.
After leaving Parliament Richard worked at the Employment Exchange branch of the Board of Trade. He retired in 1920 but was a councillor in Southgate for most of the twenties.
He died in 1930 aged 70.
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