Richard is a seasoned campaigner, with some good results under his belt.  In the 2005 General Election he was one of only three candidates in Cleveland & Durham to increase the Conservative share of the vote.

In the May 2008 County Council Elections, the Conservatives did well, winning 10 out of 126 seats, compared with the 3 out of 63 we held previously.  Across the County, our vote share actually fell, and in Bishop Auckland it rose slightly.

Richard's performance was particularly strong.  His majority was the third highest out of 126 Cllrs.  Just a safe Conservative ward?  Anyone could have done it?

Not exactly.  The second Councillor to be elected in Richard's two member ward was a Conservative……………….by a majority of 8 votes.

Richard has opposed wasteful Government initiatives such as the North East Assembly, and he brought the famous 'white elephant' to Barnard Castle as part of the 'No' campaign. 

More recently he has opposed plans to turn Durham and Northumberland Counties into Unitary councils, believing that rural areas like Teesdale and Tynedale will struggle to get a 'fair crack of the whip' under the new unitaries.

He says "the main focus of the new councils will be on the more populated and more deprived areas of their counties.  Councillors from rural areas like me have a real job on their hands to ensure we get our fair share of council attention, resources and accessibility.  We must also remember that the district councils provided professional jobs in areas that badly need them, and work to retain as much service delivery as we can locally".