Richard Fuller | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
| Assumed office 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Laura Trott |
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| Interim 8 July 2024 – 4 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Richard Holden |
| Succeeded by | Dominic Johnson Nigel Huddleston |
| Economic Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 8 July 2022 – 27 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson Liz Truss |
| Preceded by | John Glen |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Griffith |
| Member of Parliament forNorth Bedfordshire North East Bedfordshire (2019–2024) | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Alistair Burt |
| Majority | 5,414 (10.5%) |
| Member of Parliament forBedford | |
| In office 6 May 2010 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Patrick Hall |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Yasin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Quentin Fuller (1962-05-30)30 May 1962 (age 63) |
| Party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University College, Oxford;Harvard Business School |
| Occupation | Member of Parliament |
| Website | richardfuller |
Richard Quentin FullerCBE (born 30 May 1962)[1] is a British politician who has beenShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury since November 2024,[2] having previously served as the interimChairman of the Conservative Party from July to November 2024.[3] He has beenMember of Parliament (MP) forNorth Bedfordshire, formerlyNorth East Bedfordshire, since2019.[4] A member of theConservative Party, he representedBedford from2010 to2017.
Fuller previously served as theEconomic Secretary to the Treasury from July to October 2022.[5][6] In the2024 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire (CBE) for political and public service.[7] He had previously achieved prominence as leader of the Young Conservatives from 1985 to 1987.
Fuller was educated at Hazeldene School andBedford Modern School (then adirect grant school), followed byUniversity College, Oxford (1981–84), where he studied Politics, Philosophy & Economics, andHarvard Business School (1987–89) for his MBA.
Fuller was President of theOxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) in 1983. Following the failed nomination of Conservative candidates for theOxford University Student Union (OUSU), Oxford's student paperCherwell ran the headline "OUCA falls apart" and Fuller lost a vote of confidence but remained in office. As President, Fuller also provided the firstConservative Party platform for theAfrican National Congress, then a proscribedterrorist organisation in then stillapartheidSouth Africa but not proscribed in the UK.[8][9]
Fuller joined the management consultancy company,LEK Consulting in 1984 as part of their first intake of university graduates. In 1986, Fuller transferred to Sydney to help establish the Australian practice of LEK. After Harvard Business School, he worked inSouth Korea, before rejoining LEK in Australia and then working for two years on assignment with thePhilippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) inManila, Philippines. In 2000, he joined the alternative assets firm,Investcorp, to help establish their technology ventures group. Fuller joined the board of the Osborne Association, a New York-based charity working with offenders and ex-offenders in 2002. Fuller moved to the United States in 2004 and rejoined LEK in Los Angeles in 2007.[citation needed] He became a non-executive director of Impero Software prior to returning to Parliament in 2019.[10]
Fuller joined theConservative Party and began delivering leaflets forTrevor Skeet, theMP for Bedford during the1979 general election. As a Young Conservative Fuller became a member of the moderate (Tory Reform Group) faction that controlled the National Young Conservatives, in opposition toMonday Club and libertarian elements attempting to wrest control of the movement.
Fuller was elected National Chairman of theYoung Conservatives from 1985 to 1987, campaigning on social issues such as housing, changes to drugs policies as well as on tackling unemployment. Fuller continued the anti-apartheid policies initiated under previous YC chairmenIain Picton,Phil Pedley andJohn Guthrie.
The National YC Report was passed in 1984 under Phil Pedley's Chairmanship. Fuller resisted pressure from Conservative Central Office to withdraw support from Pedley who (along with the BBC) was being sued byHarvey Proctor,Neil Hamilton andGerald Howarth. When the BBC Governors suddenly intervened and ordered the trial be abandoned, Fuller voiced his concerns as to why the trial had been abruptly abandoned.[11] Concern grew over the actions of Malcolm McAlpine, a BBC Governor and a cousin ofAlistair McAlpine, the treasurer of the Conservative Party. "He denied yesterday that he had promised Mr Hamilton that he could 'deliver' the governors behind a settlement."[11]The Times reported that: "Mr Richard Fuller, YC Chairman and a member of the group which endorsed the infiltration report by 39 votes to one, pledged financial backing to Philip Pedley who announced he was fighting on."[12]
Fuller stood as the Conservative candidate for theBedford constituency in the2005 general election, losing to the incumbentLabour MPPatrick Hall. Fuller stood again for the Bedford constituency in the2010 general election, and was elected to office on 6 May 2010,[13][14] replacing Patrick Hall. He was re-elected in the2015 general election, but lost to the Labour candidate in the2017 general election. As MP, Fuller led successful campaigns to retain key services at Bedford Hospital and to enable the establishment of Bedford Free School. Fuller launched a venture fund to invest in local businesses and ran the Bedford Community Business School. In October 2014, Fuller was one of 39 Conservative MPs who voted in favour of recognisingPalestine.[15]
Fuller stood and won inNorth East Bedfordshire in the2019 general election[16] followingAlistair Burt's decision to stand down after having the whip removed and then returned.
Fuller was a member of theBusiness, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee from 2015 to 2017 and rejoined the Committee following the 2019 general election. Fuller played a leading role in the inquiry into the sale and acquisition of BHS and later proposed the first successful motion[17] in theHouse of Commons to recommend the removal of a knighthood from former BHS ownerSir Philip Green.
Fuller campaigned against the use of detention for immigration purposes achieving restrictions on the detention of pregnant women and co-authoring the 2015 report, "The Use of Immigration Detention in the UK" by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration.[citation needed]
Fuller was one of 158 MPs who supported Brexit ahead of the 2016 EU Referendum.[citation needed]
Fuller was appointedEconomic Secretary to the Treasury by outgoing Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, following the resignation ofJohn Glen during theJuly 2022 United Kingdom government crisis. He left this position following Prime MinisterRishi Sunak's first Cabinet reshuffle.[6] He was replaced byAndrew Griffith MP.[18]
In 2023, he was reselected for the newNorth Bedfordshire constituency.[19] Fuller was re-elected with a decreased majority of 5,414 votes.[20]
Following the Conservative defeat in the2024 General Election, and the subsequent resignation ofRichard Holden, Fuller was appointed byRishi Sunak to serve as interimChairman of the Conservative Party for the remainder of his leadership.[21]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBedford 2010–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNorth East Bedfordshire 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Conservative Party 2024 | Succeeded by |
