The Right Honourable The Earl of Bradford |
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Born | 3 October 1947 |
Title | Earl of Bradford |
Tenure | since 30 August 1981 |
Heir | Alexander Bridgeman, Viscount Newport |
Spouse(s) | Joanne Elizabeth Miller (1979-2006) Penelope Anne Law (2008—) |
Issue | Alexander Bridgeman, Viscount Newport The Hon. Henry Bridgeman The Hon. Benjamin Thomas Orlando Bridgeman Lady Alicia Bridgeman |
Parents |
Gerald Bridgeman, 6th Earl of Bradford Mary Willoughby Montgomery |
Richard Thomas Orlando Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford (born 3 October 1947) is a British peer and businessman.
Bradford is the son of Gerald Bridgeman, 6th Earl of Bradford and Mary Willoughby Montgomery. He was educated at St. Ronan's School, Hawkhurst, and Harrow School, just outside London, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1969 and a Master of Arts in 1973. He succeeded to his father's title in 1981.
Bradford owned Porters English Restaurant in London's Covent Garden, which he created in 1979, and Covent Garden Grill next door; they closed in January 2015 as the leases were sold back to the landlord. In May 2015 he opened Porters Restaurant in Berkhamsted.
From 1986 to 1999 he was Chairman of Weston Park Enterprises. Because the 6th Earl left the family with large death duties, Bradford gifted his home Weston Park and 1,000 acres to the nation in 1986, with the support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, to the Weston Park Foundation. As of 1998, he is Chairman of VIP Internet Ltd, a website design company, which also operates its own websites, such as Stately-Homes.com, now sold, and A-London-Guide.com.
In 2001, he was a candidate for political office, running as a candidate for the UK Independence Party, he obtained 5.2% support (2,315 votes) in Stafford, losing to David Kidney, but achieving the 4th best result for the party. He ran again for UKIP in the European Elections for the West Midlands region in 2004, coming eighth, seven candidates were elected. In May 2012 he stood unsuccessfully for the party in a by election in the Hyde Park ward of Westminster City Council, with the support of celebrity nightclub-owner Peter Stringfellow.