Captain
Richard Drax
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for South Dorset
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byJim Knight
Majority17,153 (33.6%)
Personal details
Born
Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax

(1958-01-29) 29 January 1958
London, England
Political partyConservative
Spouses
Zara Legge-Bourke
​
​
(m. 1985; div. 1997)​
    Eliza S Dugdale
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1998, divorced)​
    • Elsebet Bødtker
    Children4
    Residence(s)Charborough House, Dorset
    EducationHarrow School
    Alma materRoyal Agricultural College
    Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
    ProfessionArmy officer; journalist
    Military career
    Allegiance United Kingdom
    Service/branch British Army
    Years of service1978–1987
    Rank Captain
    Service number506831
    Unit Coldstream Guards
    Websitewww.richarddrax.com

    Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (born 29 January 1958) is a British Conservative Party politician, landowner and former journalist serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dorset since 2010.

    Early life

    Drax was born on 29 January 1958 in Westminster, London, into a landowner family.[1] He was educated at Harrow School before going to the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester where he graduated with a diploma in rural land management in 1990, receiving a further diploma in journalism in 1995.[2][3]

    Career

    Military service

    Drax passed out from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and was commissioned in the British Army joining the Coldstream Guards on 9 December 1978 as a second lieutenant.[4] Drax was promoted lieutenant on 9 December 1980,[5] before being transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers after active service on 9 December 1983, ending his first period of full-time military service.[6]

    Drax was reinstated on the Active List on 10 September 1984, beginning his second and final period of regular service. He retained the rank of lieutenant with seniority from 10 September 1981 to reflect the three years he had served.[7] He was promoted captain on 10 March 1986.[8]

    He relinquished his British Army commission on 9 September 1987, thereby retiring after nine years' service as a Coldstreamer.[9]

    Journalism

    Drax worked at York's Evening Press as a reporter in 1991,[3] before joining BBC South where he appeared on both radio and television media, including the daily television news programme South Today.[10]

    Parliamentary career

    Selected as a Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate in July 2006, at the general election in May 2010 Drax defeated the incumbent Labour Member of Parliament for South Dorset, Jim Knight, later Lord Knight of Weymouth.[11] Drax retained his seat in the 2015 general election with an increased majority and the 2017 general election.

    In the House of Commons he has sat on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and currently serves on the European Scrutiny Committee.[12]

    In 2009, Drax faced criticism from political rivals for 'hiding his aristocratic roots' by not using his full quadruple-barrelled name. It was suggested the then leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, had asked wealthy Conservative candidates to shorten their names to appear more in touch with normal people. Drax denied the accusations, saying that he used the shortened version of his name only because of the "logistic mouthful", while Cameron's comments were a "throw away joke".[13]

    Drax campaigned for Brexit during the 2016 referendum.[14] In April 2019, in a speech in the House of Commons, Drax said that he "made the wrong call" by supporting the government's Brexit deal and called for the resignation of Theresa May if she failed to take the UK out of the EU by 12 April.[15] Drax praised May's successor, Boris Johnson, for achieving a trade deal in December 2020,[16] but in February 2021 expressed concern over the Northern Ireland Protocol and disruption to trade in Northern Ireland.[17]

    During the 2019 UK General Election Drax apologised after his Land Rover, with a campaign poster on the vehicle, was photographed parking across two disabled parking spaces outside his campaign headquarters. Drax responded to the incident by saying: "I popped in to get some literature and very thoughtlessly parked on those lines which I immediately regretted and apologise to the organisation straight away. I rushed in and rushed out. I've never done it before and never done it since but it was a real moment of thoughtlessness and it won't happen again."[18][19]

    In June 2020, Drax wrote an article in the Dorset Echo suggesting that rioters linked to the Black Lives Matter protests had been responsible for desecrating The Cenotaph war memorial in London.[20]

    In May 2022, Drax criticised the decision by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to introduce a windfall tax on oil and gas firms to fund economic support for the public during the cost of living crisis, accusing him of "throwing red meat to socialists".[21]

    Drax endorsed Suella Braverman during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[22] After Braverman was eliminated, he supported Liz Truss.[23]

    He endorsed Boris Johnson in the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[24] Drax voted against the Windsor Framework.[25]

    Family

    Arms of Drax of Charlborough Park

    Drax lives in his family's ancestral seat, Charborough House – a Grade I listed manor house in rural Dorset. He is the largest individual landowner in Dorset, owning approximately 13,870 acres (5,610 ha), equivalent to 2% of the land in Dorset.[26] He also owns the 2,200-acre (890 ha) Ellerton Abbey farming estate in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, and the nearby 520-acre (210 ha) Copperthwaite Allotment grouse moor.[1]

    Drax is the eldest son of Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1928–2017)[27] JP DL and The Hon. Pamela Weeks (1931–2019) and a grandson of Admiral The Hon. Sir Reginald Drax, younger son of the 17th Lord Dunsany thereby being in remainder to the ancient Barony of Dunsany (cr. 1462): the second oldest title in the Peerage of Ireland. His great-uncle was the celebrated writer and playwright the 18th Lord Dunsany.

    His first wife (divorced 1997) was Zara Legge-Bourke, younger sister of the royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, relations of the Earl of Dartmouth. Drax married his second wife; Eliza, daughter of Commander James Dugdale RN in 1998. Drax since married his third wife, Norwegian-born Elsebet Bødtker, and has four children in total.

    At least six of his ancestors, including John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge Erle-Drax and the 17th Lord Dunsany, were Members of Parliament for Dorset and Gloucestershire between the 1680s and 1880s. A cousin is the 19th and present Lord Dunsany.[28]

    A 2020 investigation by The Guardian found that Richard Drax still owns and grows sugar on the same Drax Hall Estate in Barbados that made the family's fortune. Over 200 years, 30,000 slaves died at this and the other Drax plantations, according to Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chair of CARICOM's Reparations Commission. "The Drax family has done more harm and violence to the black people of Barbados than any other", he said.[1]

    The Barbados Government is seeking reparations from Drax for his ancestors' involvement in slavery.[29] The Reparations Commission wants Drax Hall to be returned to Barbados, to be made into a museum. If this request is refused, the government intends to take the matter to an international arbitration court.[30]

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 3 Lashmar, Paul; Jonathan Smith (12 December 2020). "He's the MP with the Downton Abbey lifestyle. But the shadow of slavery hangs over the gilded life of Richard Drax". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
    2. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
    3. 1 2 "DRAX, Richard Grosvenor". Who's Who 2013. A & C Black. November 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
    4. ↑ "No. 47757". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 January 1979. p. 1300.
    5. ↑ "No. 48460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 December 1980. p. 17809.
    6. ↑ "No. 49574". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 December 1983. p. 16793.
    7. ↑ "No. 49904". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 October 1984. p. 14268.
    8. ↑ "No. 50461". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 1986. p. 3836.
    9. ↑ "No. 51067". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 September 1987. p. 11736.
    10. ↑ "Dorset South Tories choose Drax". BBC News. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
    11. ↑ Kitching, Laura; Catherine Bolado (7 May 2010). "Election 2010: Sweeping victory for Tory Richard Drax". Dorset Echo.
    12. ↑ "Richard Drax". Parliament UK. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    13. ↑ Phillips, Miriam (8 December 2009). "Richard Drax hits out over name change claims". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    14. ↑ "Vote Leave". Richard Drax. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
    15. ↑ Evans, Albert (1 April 2019). "Tory MP Richard Drax says he made a mistake voting for Theresa May's Brexit deal". inews. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
    16. ↑ Nash, Vicky (2 January 2021). "South Dorset MP, Richard Drax, praises Brexit trade deal". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
    17. ↑ Woodcock, Andrew (8 February 2021). "Brexiteers failed to take UK out of EU as single country, Tory MP admits". The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
    18. ↑ Eckersall, Faith (11 December 2019). "'Moment of thoughtlessness' says Richard Drax after parking across disabled bay". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
    19. ↑ Jankowicz, Mia (10 December 2019). "Tory candidate left his campaign vehicle across TWO disabled parking spots". The New European. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
    20. ↑ "Column: A wave of intolerance has swept this country". Dorset Echo. 20 June 2020.
    21. ↑ Alfonso, Marie-Claire (26 May 2022). "Dorset MP Richard Drax criticises new windfall tax announcement". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
    22. ↑ Alfonso, Marie-Claire (10 July 2022). "MP Richard Drax backs Attorney General Suella Braverman to become Johnson's successor". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
    23. ↑ "Next Tory Leader. Which MP is backing whom – the updated list. Truss on 149, Sunak on 132. The Foreign Secretary's lead amongst MPs grows". ConservativeHome. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
    24. ↑ "'I'm backing Boris': South Dorset MP's support for ex-PM in Tory leadership race". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
    25. ↑ "Two Dorset MPs part of Conservative rebel group over new Brexit deal with EU". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
    26. ↑ Shrubsole, Guy (4 January 2020). "The ten landowners who own one-sixth of Dorset". Who Owns England?.
    27. ↑ Horsfield, Michaela (21 July 2017). "Obituary of Henry Walter Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax". Daily Echo. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
    28. ↑ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage (107th ed.). London: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 1240 (DUNSANY, B). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
    29. ↑ "Barbados plans to make Tory MP pay reparations for family's slave past". The Guardian. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
    30. ↑ Armitage, Rebecca (4 January 2023). "Benedict Cumberbatch's ancestors got rich from slavery in Barbados. Now he could be on the hook for reparations". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
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