Kenneth George Hutchison Ritchie (born 8 December 1946) is a Britishpsephologist and formerLabour and Co-operative councillor. He was the chief executive of theElectoral Reform Society from 1997 until 26 June 2010, and a member of the board from 2012 to 2019.[1][2][3]
Kenneth Ritchie was the son of the late William Ritchie and Margaret Morton Ritchie (née Hutchison). He attendedGeorge Heriot's School inEdinburgh.[3]
Ritchie graduated from theUniversity of Edinburgh with a BSc in mathematics, and then spent 18 months teaching maths inTanzania withVoluntary Service Overseas during 1968 and 1969.[3] After that, he returned to Britain to work as a systems analyst forImperial Chemical Industries, where he worked from 1970 to 1973.[3] His African interests led him to complete aPhD onAston University's Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees Scheme (IHD). This focused on the policies and decision-making methods of voluntary organisations, particularly inEast Africa.[4] He was awarded his PhD in 1981.[3]
In 1976, Ritchie became head of International Service for theUK United Nations Association, a role he held until 1983. From 1983 to 1988, Ritchie was executive director ofAppropriate Health Resources & Technologies Action Group, and deputy director of theBritish Refugee Council from 1988 to 1994. Ritchie subsequently became UK Director of theIntermediate Technology Development Group, a role he held from 1994 to 1996.[3][5]
One of Ritchie's main interests has been the cause ofelectoral reform. It has been suggested that he became a convert to this as a result of standing forLabour in constituencies described as "hopelessly unwinnable" byFairVote.[4] He was the chief executive of theElectoral Reform Society from 1997 until 2010, and in this capacity, he authored an article voicing his opposition toFirst Past the Post inThe Independent just prior to the2010 general election.[3][6] He was also a member of the ERS board from 2012 to 2019.[3]
Whilst at the ERS, Ritchie also served with other organisations which promoted electoral reform: from 1998 until 2010, he was a director of Make Votes Count, and from 2004 to 2010, he was a board member of FairVote (also known as the Center for Voting and Democracy), aWashington-based group. Ritchie has been part of the executive committee for theLabour Campaign for Electoral Reform since 2010.[3] As of 2022[update], he is their treasurer.[7]
From 1980 to 1985, Ritchie was the honorary treasurer ofWar on Want. In 1984, he became treasurer of the Western Sahara Campaign, a role he continues to hold. Ritchie was a member of theCouncil for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding from 1989 to 1984.[3] Ritchie served as the chairperson of the London Friends of Palestine in 1987.[5] He has also been a board member ofOxfam UK.[4]
In recent years, Ritchie has championedrepublicanism in the UK. He was a member of the executive committee forRepublic from 2011 to 2019, and in 2011, he foundedLabour for a Republic, aLabour-affiliated group campaigning for Britain to become arepublic.[8] Since 2014, he has been LfaR's secretary.[3]
Ritchie was on the executive committee of the Reform Foundation as its chairman from 2011 to 2018. In 2011, he also served as co-ordinator of theAll-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group.[3]
Ritchie joined the Labour Party in 1978, and has stood as a parliamentary candidate for the party three times. He was also chair ofBeckenhamConstituency Labour Party in London from 1987 to 1993. At the1987 and1992 general elections, Ritchie unsuccessfully contested the seat. In 1987, he came third, but improved on this in 1992 by coming second.[5][9][10] Ritchie also stood for election to theLondon Borough of Bromley in1990. As one of the two Labour candidates for Lawrie Park and Kent House, a ward in the Beckenham constituency, Ritchie was the top placed opposition candidate behind theConservatives, who held both the seats.[11][12]
At the next general election, in1997, Ritchie contestedDaventry inNorthamptonshire. Under Labour'slandslide election victory, led byTony Blair, there was an 11.1% swing to the party in the seat, with Ritchie again taking second place, albeit by the narrowest majority since the constituency's1974 recreation.[13] The parliamentary constituencies Ritchie contested have generally beensafe seats for the incumbent Conservative Party.[4]
Ritchie stood in the Badby ward for the2003Daventry District Council elections, coming a distant second to the Conservatives.[14] In March 2012, he was named as one of the two potential Labour candidates who would run to be the firstNorthamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner. However, his rival, Lee Barron, was ultimately selected, and the Conservative candidate won the ensuing contest.[15][16] In May that year, Ritchie was a Labour candidate for Daventry District Council in Abbey North ward inthe local elections, but was unsuccessful.[17]
Thefollowing year, he was a candidate in Daventry East division onNorthamptonshire County Council, but came third.[18] In the2014 and2015 Daventry elections, he unsuccessfully stood in Drayton, coming second.[19] Ritchie again contested Abbey North in2016, and was elected, gaining one of the ward's seats from the Conservatives. He also contested Northamptonshire's Braunston and Crick division in2017.[20] He represented Abbey North as aLabour and Co-operative councillor until 2021: upon the formation of the newWest Northamptonshire local authority, Ritchie was an unsuccessful candidate for Daventry West at their inaugural elections in2021.[3][17][21][22]
In 1985, Ritchie married Elizabeth Anne Black. The couple have a son and daughter. Ritchie lists his recreations as golf, music and walking the dog.[3]
In 2006, he became a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Arts.[citation needed]
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