Oliver Richards
From Nseurope
| Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards | ||||||||
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Oliver Andrew George Richards, 18th Duke of St Thomas (Born 2nd September 1960) is the current Prime Minister of St Thomas and a high profile politician. He is also due to his title of Duke of St Thomas, the premier noble in the country. Prior to becoming Prime Minister he served in a number of high ranking government positions and is also a former Royal Navy oficer.
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[edit] Childhood and Education
Richards was born in Kings Hosptial, St Thomas City to George Arthur Richards, Earl of Moston (son of the 16th Duke of St Thomas) and his wife Margeret Elizabeth Richards (nee Brown) on September 2nd 1960. He spent much of his childhood living with his Grandparents in Moston Palace, it was at this time he grew very close to his grandparents. His granfathers death when he was age 13 was a shock to him.
He was educated until age 11 at home by his tutor Teresa Hallway who also taught his siblings and cousins. At age 11 he went to the pretigious Kings School in St Thomas City, the same school his father, grand father and gret grandfather attended before him. After completeting his A-Levels in 1978 he entered the nearby Kings University and gained a bachellors in law.
[edit] Navy Life
After qualifying as a barrister, encouraged by his father, Richards attended the Royal Navy Officers School and gained his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1984. He was posted to the MoD to serve as a millitary barrister, gaining automatic promotion to Leiutenant. He was transfered to serve as the senior legal advisor to the Commander-in-Chief (Home) in 1987 with the rank of Leiutenant-Commander.
In 1989 he moved to carry out active duties on board the destroyer HMS Llundudy as it's second in command. He was made an Acting Commander on the outbreak of the Kye Troubles in 1992 so he could take charge of the destroyer. He was involved in several important incidents during the war including a land operation against a Kye Alliance outpost in St Peters. He and his men were taken hostage on board his ship in 1993 and he refused to be one of 30 sailors allowed to leave the ship.
He was recalled to the MoD to serve in the Millitary Advocates department and was one of the prosecuting officers in the trial of the HMS Kye Mutineers. He was promoted to Captain in 1995 shortly before leaving the Royal Navy. He remains on the active role meaning in times of war he could be called up for service which he has said he would be willing to do.
[edit] Entry to Parliament
Despite not being a member of the National People's Party, Lord Richards as he was styled was selected to fight the People's Party safe seat of St James Market in the 1996 General Election. It was not realised until after the election that he was not a member. He won the election however with a decreased majority for the People Party and entered parliament.
He served on the backbenches for the first two years of his career making several speaches against the Nationalist Government at the time. He was seen as a very traditional Conservative, contrary to the modern feel the Peoples Party were trying to adpot at the time. Due to this his appointment to the front bench as a Shadow Defence Minister proved to be a suprise. When Sir Clement Hall became leader in 1999 with a promise to take the party to power he was appointed to the post of Shadow Education Secretary.
[edit] Hall Government
Richards represented the prestigous seat of Kings in the 2000 General Election which saw the Peoples Party swept to power with a supermajority in the House of Commons. He was subsequently appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of State for Education, a high ranking job for a young man like himself.
He enjoyed much sucess during his time as Education Secretary and became popular with the teachers unions after he abolished the national curriculum in favour of 'voluntary guidelines'. He is also said to have removed a lot of beurocracy from the Education system. Controrary to his traditional capitalist beliefs he promoted grants for low-income students to help them go to University and also tried to kerb the powers of the Independent schools.
In a 2004 re-shuffle he was moved from the Department for Education to the Foreign Office becoming Foreign Secretary. For a junior like himself this was seen as a massive jump up the promotion ladder. Despite being in what was one of the three senior cabinet positions he was not part of Sir Clement Hall's inner circle of ministers. As Foreign Secretary he saw the development of St Thomas relations greatly. He did come under criticism for maintaining a strict policy of non-cooperation with communist nations. This was overshadowed by what were seen as positive moves when St Thomas entered the United Nations and European Union.
[edit] Howard Government
Sir Clement Hall retired as Prime Minister in October 2005. Michael Howard having served as Finance Secretary under Howard for many years was elected unopposed to become party leader on a new liberal platform. Lord Richards was seen along with many other traditional conservatives as a potential target for being demoted. To try to save himself from either Lord Richards refused to serve under Howard unless he allowed him to continue as Foreign Secretary. Howard refused. Over several days Richards was offerd several jobs within the government including Health Secretary and Education Secretary, both of which he refused. Faced with being axed altogether from the government Richards accepted the position of Constitutional Affairs Secretary.
Shortly after the Howard administration came to power with the government in internal crisis and members of parliament refusing to take their seats a constitutional crisis was declared and Crown Rule enforced (absolute rule of the monarch). Shortly in to the crisis King Andrew VI asked Lord Richards to form a caretaker government much to the disaproval of Howard. This was the first occassion Richard's high standing with King Andrew was demonstrated. After the end of the crisis Michael Howard resumed his premiership and in a suprise to many Lord Richards was stripped of his ministereal responsabilities and demoted to the position of Leader of the House of Lords.
[edit] Lady Richards Government
Shortly after returning to power Michael Howard was assasinated. Despite the obvious tensions between the two men Lord Richards lead the tributes paid to Howard. His senior status as a respected minister was noted when soon after the death he was amongst the senior government officials who attended a meeting with King Andrew VI to discuss how best to proceed. After the meeting ended People Party officials called an election for a new party leader. MPs quickly returned to Dxford on a saturday to cast their ballots the next day. Winning 2:1 votes against her nearest rival, Lord Richard's wife; Kate Richard was elected as Prime Minister and thus invited to form a government.
Lord Richards was intialy seen as a candidate to head one of the junior ministries but in cotrast to speculation he was appointed as Home Secretary. During his tenure as Home Secretary he announced plans to implement assylum quotas which were reflective of his conservative nature. His term as Home Secretary was ended sharpely after a controversry involving issuing a statement in which he called the EU President at the time 'a tosser, a wanker and a puff'. He resigned the next day.
He was not out of government for long. He was not returned to serve in the vacant roll of Attorney General but instead was given a super-department to handle. The new department combined several other departments in to one leaving Lord Richards with a big challenge. He was quoted as saying during his time in the office 'You can't actualy create policies in this department because you spend too much time sorting out the administration.' He was also appointed as Minister of State for Kye charged with taking a tough stance on the developing crisis in the province. Lord Richards supported an amalgamation of the main centre-right parties (inluding them Peoples Party) to form the Conservative Party.
When his wife Lady Richards came under intense pressure to resign due to several defeats in the House of Commons with her own MPs going against her Lord Richards refused to publicly call for her resignation. He remained publicly loyal to his wife throughout her struggle. When a motion of no confidence was called against her Lord Richards and several other cabinet ministers felt they could no longer serve under her and resigned hours before the vote. They did not vote against her and instead did not attend the vote at all. Lady Richards was defeated and resigned.
[edit] As Prime Minister
After Lady Richards resigned the nation was left without any natural sucessor. There was no Deputy Prime Minister and it would take several weeks to have an election for a new Conservative Leader due to the internal splits. King Andrew therefore asked Chairman of the Conservative Party: Dame Jean Dove, former Prime Minister: Viscount Hall and Presidnet of the Council of State: Baroness Anne Kayes to advise him on how to act. Despite two of them not legaly being allowed to advise him, they advised him to ask Lord Richards to form a government.
The next day Lord Richards was called to St Thomas Palace where he was invited to form a government. The Party Board however refused to grant him the role of leader without a ballot. A ballot was held and he was elected unopposed.
Amongst his first acts as Prime Minister was to make major changed to foreign policy. Within a week St Thomas had resigned from the United Nations and a review comittee was established. He also made several changes to economic policy and began negotations for Mullaghmore's independence. The first poll conducted after he came in to office showed the Conservative's on 52%, thie highest of any party before.
His most known act came only recently when in response to several terrorist attacks by the Kye Alliance he orderd troops on to the ground in Kye and declared a war against the Alliance. The war resulted in the deaths of over 500 civilians and Lord Richards refused to give in. It wasn't until a peace conference hosted by EUROPEAR eventualy resulted in peace. This harmed Lord Richard greatly but since his popularity has been slowly growing again.
He continues to serve as Prime Minister.
[edit] Political Beliefs
Lord Richards identifies himself as a believer in Llundudy Conservatism. Central to his beliefs are his continued support for the monarchy and other traditional instituions such as the Council of Lords (with hereditary peers) and the established Church of St Thomas. He has actively campaigned for their preservation which has included being one of the leading speakers at a protest against the Nationalist Government's plans to scrap the Council of Lords in favour of an elected Senate.
Economicaly he is very neo-liberal. He himself is one of the richest men in St Thomas and has constantly opposed imposing a 50% tax rate on the highest earners. He supports the privatisation of all industry believing that businessman should run businesses and politicians can run the country. He is also a supporter of greater choice for consumers when it comes to public services therefore supporting more private sector participation in the provision of public services.
Socialy he is more moderate than some of his Conservative Colleagues. He voted in favour of a Private Members Bill reducing the age of consent for homosexuals to that of hetrosexuals but has since said he would not introduce legislation doing the same. He opposed civil unions for gay people, speaking in a debate on the issue in the House of Commons he said "Civil unions corrupt the ancient institution of marrige which is a sacred union between a man and a women." He did vote in favour of the re-introduction of the death penalty for treason and crimes in war but not for murder which contrats to the majority of other Conservative MPs.
Richards is also known as an opponent of socialism and communism calling both ideaologies "vile". He has also wirtten several reports on communism in particular adovcating how it is "both unpractical and theoreticaly incorrect". In a speech to the City of St Thomas Conservative Association he told the gatherd personell that "I am a bug. The bug that kills socialism". These views have made him unpopular with many of the left.
His views on immigration and assylum have also made him quite controversial. In a 1999 speech he talked about the problems caused by immigration and how the negatives in many ways outwayed the positives. Whilst some speculate he holds the view he has never called for the re-patriation of immigrants. In 2004 he told the House of Commons that "coloured people need to make an effort to fit in. We've done our bit now they need to do theirs. If they are not willing to do so then it is simple, they can go back to where they came from." This remark in particular stirred a large amount of controversy in the press.
[edit] Personal Life
Lord Richards has enjoyed a very private personal life for much of his career with little intrusion from the outside world. Personal friends say he is very hapily married to his wife of 21 years Kate Richards (neé Howard) who he married in 1985. He has three children by Lady Kate. Emily Richars (born 1987), Joseph Richards (born 1990) and Dominic Richards (born 1996). Emily is currently studying law at King University (the same as her father) whilst Joseph is at Kings School and Dominic is attending a local Primary School in Kings.
Richards is known to be a keen sportsman. He played Rugby sucessfuly at University and in the Royal Navy. He is an honourary a member of King Rugby Club and owns a box at King Stadium. He is also a keen follower of cricket supporting St Thomas County in the domestic lead whilst also attending a number of St Thomas' international matches.
One of the one instances when his personal life has come under scrutiny was in 2003 when he was photographen smacking his youngest son. To this he replied; "As far as I am aware there is no law which says a parent may not smack their child therefore I have only done what many, many parents do everyday."
[edit] Personal Wealth
Lord Richards economic views are considerd to be based on the fact he has lived in wealth all of his life. He is the sole benifactor of all profits made by the Duchy of St Thomas in it's coperate operations. In 2004 profit was £461,000,000. On top of this Lord Richards extensive property privately including several houses in the afluent borough of Kings. On top of this and other commercial holdings and money he recieves from carrying out certain engagement his estimated personal wealth is valued at £5.3 Billion. Since becoming a government minister this had been held in trust.
The amount of tax he pays on his finances is a matter of controversy. Due to his gorssly high income he should pay the Gross Income Tax rate of 45%. However as Duke of St Thomas he is entitle to certain 'privaleges'. Historicaly these have included being exempt from Tax. In 2001 however on his acession to the Duchy he announced that from 1980 all Dukes had paid a rate of 20% on all of their income. It was later confirmed that from 2004 Lord Richards would pay 20% on his income from the Duchy and then 45% on all other.
[edit] Property and Residences
Lord Richards owns considerable property in his own right and also through being Duke of St Thomas and Prime Minister he has a number of properties he is entitle to use. St Thomas House is his official residence as Prime Minister but along with College House, the other residence of the Prime Minister he does not use them.
He has three official residences as Duke of St Thomas, Chatsworth in Duchy Great Park is the main one and he spends most weekends these and occasionaly runs government from there. Moston Palace in St Thomas City is his official City resdsidence as Duke. He lived in the Palace when he attended university as a child but has not resided there permanantly since. The third residence is Llundudy House in the countryside surrounding Llundudy. Lord Richards traditionaly spends his holidays in Llundudy including Christmas.
Property he owns personaly include several appartments in St Thomas City, a small country house near Chatsworth and a six-bedroom Georgian Mansion in St Thomas City. The latter is where he and his family reside permanantly as it is near all of their places of schooling or work. He also rents extensive property in St James and Hyde.
[edit] Honours and Titles
[edit] Honours Recieved
Lord Richards because of his status as Duke of St Thomas has been highly decorated and honoured.
Military Honours
- Officer of the Royal Military Order (1989) - for Services to His Majesty in his armed forces.
- Destinguished Service Order (1993) - for leadership and command during the capture of HMS Llundudy.
- King Edward Cross (1994) - for distinguished service in the face of the enemy at sea.
- Military Service Cross (1994) - for 10 years service in His Majesty's Forces.
- Kye Medal (1995) - for service during the Kye Campaign (1992-1995).
- Aid-de-Camp to His Majesty the King (2003)
Non-Millitary Honours
- Knight of the Order of St Thomas (1981) - Defacto recipient as son of the Duke of St Thomas
- Baron of the United Kingdoms of St Thomas (1999) as Baron Cochrane of Cochrane
- Officer of the State Order (2000) - for services to Parliament
- Member of the Council of State (2001) - as Duke of St Thomas
- Member of the Order of the Dragon (2002) - for personal services to the Sovereign
- Knight of the State Order (2003) - for services in Government
- Knight Junior of the Order of the Royal Kingdoms (2005) - for conspicuous service to the nation
Lord Richards was also made a Kings Counsel in 1987 in his role as a barrister and was sworn as a member of the Grand Council in 1999.
[edit] Principal Titles in Use:
Since his birht he has been known as:
- Viscount Moston (Brith-1981)
- Viscount Moston KT (1981-1984)
- Liutenant Oliver Richards (1984-1987)
- Lieutenant Commander Oliver Richards KC (1987-1992)
- Commander Oliver Richards ORMO KC (1992-1993)
- Commander Oliver Richards ORMO DSO KC (1993-1994)
- Commander Oliver Richards ORMO DSO KEC MSC KC (1994-1995)
- Captain Oliver Richards KT ORMO DSO KEC MSC KC (1995-1996)
- Lord Oliver Richards KT ORMO KC MP (1996-1999)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT ORMO KC MP (1999-2000)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT ORMO OSO KC MP (2000-2001)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT ORMO OSO KC MP, His Grace the Duke of St Thomas (2001-2002)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT ORMO OSO MD KC MP, His Grace the Duke of St Thomas (2002-2003)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT KSO ORMO OSO MD KC MP, His Grace the Duke of St Thomas (2003-2005)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT KSO KJRK ORMO OSO KC MD MP, His Grace the Duke of St Thomas (2005-2006)
- Rt Hon Lord Oliver Richards KT KSO KJRK ORMO OSO KC MD, His Grace the Duke of St Thomas (2006- )
Although rarely used his full title is:
His Grace The Right Honourable Lord Oliver Andrew George Richards, Duke of St Thomas, Earl Chatsworth, Viscount Moston, Viscount Dog Water, Baron Chatsworth, Baron Richards, Baron Cochrane, Baronet Richards, Grand Master and Principal Knight of the Most Noble Order of St Thomas, Knight of the State Order, Knight Junior of the Order of the Royal Kingdoms, Officer of the Royal Military Order, Officer of the State Order, Member of the Most Honourable Order of the Dragon, Member of the Council of State, Member of the Grand Council, Aid-de-Camp to His Majesty.
