Richard Foord

Richard John Foord (born 13 February 1978) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and former British Army officer who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Honiton and Sidmouth since 2024, and previously for its predecessor constituency Tiverton and Honiton in Devon from 2022 until the constituency was abolished in 2024. He won the seat in a by-election held on 23 June 2022, following the resignation due to scandal of the previous Conservative MP Neil Parish.

Early life and education
Richard Foord was born on 13 February 1978 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and went to school in Backwell. He has a BA in history from Royal Holloway, University of London, an MSc in global security from Cranfield University and an MBA from the Open University.

Early career
Having attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Foord was commissioned into the Educational and Training Services Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps of the British Army on 13 April 2001. He was promoted to captain on 13 October 2003. After attending Staff College, he was promoted to major on 31 July 2009. He served in both the Balkans and Iraq, receiving three campaign medals.

Before the election he was International Collaboration and Export Control Manager at the University of Oxford having previously worked at the University of Exeter since 2010, most recently as acting head of global partnerships. He grew up in North Somerset and lived in Yatton for 19 years; by 2017, he lived in Uffculme, Devon.

Foord stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for North Somerset at the snap 2017 general election, coming third with 9.6% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Liam Fox and the Labour Party candidate.

Parliamentary career
Foord was elected to parliament as MP for Tiverton and Honiton at the 2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election with 52.9% of the vote and a majority of 6,144. In his victory speech, he made a critique of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's lack of integrity as a leader: "By any measure you are unfit to lead".

In January 2023, Foord tabled his first bill in Parliament to legalise wild camping on Dartmoor. This came in the wake of a High Court ruling which saw the assumed right to wild camp at Dartmoor, established by the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act, overturned and replaced by an agreement between the Park Authority and local landowners.

In July 2023, Foord launched a campaign to keeping Seaton hospital open, after it emerged a whole wing of the hospital was at risk of being sold off. He is chair of the 'Save Seaton Hospital' steering committee, which is working to ensure the hospital remains within the local community. He has raised this issue several times in Parliament, presenting a petition calling for the government to intervene and block plans to sell part of it off in February 2024, and organising a large public meeting in Colyford to allow the community to express their concerns.

Due to boundary changes and the abolition of Tiverton and Honiton at the 2024 general election, Foord announced in July 2023 that he would be standing as a candidate for the new Honiton and Sidmouth constituency at the next general election. The formation of the new constituency of Honiton and Sidmouth will also involve the abolition of the neighbouring East Devon constituency. The next general election will see two serving MPs in Devon, Simon Jupp (Conservative, for East Devon) and Richard Foord (Liberal Democrat, for Tiverton and Honiton) go head to head in the general election for the new constituency.

Personal life
Foord is married and lives in Uffculme with his wife and three children. He is a member of Sustrans and a qualified mountain leader. He previously ran the London Marathon, raising thousands to support the Royal British Legion