Constituency : Eddisbury 1929-43 ( from 1931 Liberal National )
Richard took Eddisbury from the Tories at the third attempt in a straight fight. He campaigned on the Librals' new land policy.
Richard was educated at St Anne's Birkenhead and Liverpool University. He became a dental surgeon. He was a Birkenhead town councillor and held many public appointments in Merseyside. He came very close to taking the seat in 1923 and stayed in touch in 1924. He was a Methodist lay preacher.
Richard's main interests were agricultural policy and food prices. In 1933 he sat on a Commons committee on surplus foodstuffs discussing making surplus foodstuffs available to the unemployed at wholesale prices. His last speech concerned wartime difficulties in farming in 1942.
Richard was an old school Gladstonian in favour of temperance, opposed to gambling and promoting retrenchment. He proposed a private member' bill to make the football pools illegal. He was a sabbatarian and in 1932 led opposition to cinemas opening on a Sunday. He tended to vote with the Tories during the Labour government.
Richard was a natural fit for the Liberal Nationals in 1931. He was unopposed in 1931. In 1935 the Liberals considered putting up a candidate against him but the challenge didn't materialise and he was again unopposed.
He died in 1943 aged 70.
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