Richard Tracey

Richard Patrick Tracey, (8 February 1943 – 19 March 2020), was a British Conservative Party politician, BBC news presenter, and public relations consultant. He was the Member of Parliament for Surbiton from 1983 to 1997, and served as Minister for Sport and Civil Society between 1985 and 1987. He was a Conservative Association campaigner across south-west London from 1978 and a leading figure for the party in the capital, representing the constituency of Merton and Wandsworth on the London Assembly from 2008 until his retirement in 2016. In his later years, he served as the Mayor of London's Ambassador for the River (from 2008), member of the Metropolitan Police Authority (2008–10), vice-chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (2010–2012), and chairman of the London Waste and Recycling Board (2012–16).

Early life and education Tracey was born in Stratford-upon-Avon as a son of Percival, a corn merchant, and Hilda née Timms. His father died from disabling injuries shortly after World War II and Tracey was raised by his mother. He was educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford-upon-Avon from 1954 to 1961, and studied law at the University of Birmingham, graduating with an LLB (Hons) degree in 1964. He joined the Young Conservatives as a student at Birmingham.

Parliament Tracey was Member of Parliament (MP) for Surbiton from 1983 until 1997, when the constituency was abolished owing to boundary changes. In his maiden speech, he defended the United States president Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, describing national security as "the cornerstone of all our other freedoms". He later urged the prosecution of the 1984–1985 miners' strike leader Arthur Scargill for incitement and unsuccessfully voted to restore capital punishment. He was made parliamentary private secretary by Geoffrey Pattie, the minister of state at the Department of Trade and Industry. Tracey's defence of the activities of the Special Branch against left-wing critics in the Greater London Council won him the favour of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

London Assembly Following his electoral defeat, Tracey joined the executive committee of the Association of Former Members of Parliament. In the 2006 local elections, he helped his party win the Tooting ward. and celebrated the completion of the Overground rail line to Clapham Junction as well as striving to reduce pollution from buses and HGVs in Putney High Street and elsewhere.

Personal life He was a resident of Battersea. Kathy Tracey died in 2021.