Richard Needham

The Right Honourable The Earl of Kilmorey PC
Kamel Alzarka and the Falcon Group welcomed Sir Richard Needham to the 3rd Annual Trade and Corporate Finance Forum in London
Minister of State for Trade
In office 14 April 1992 – 6 July 1995
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	John Major
Preceded by	Tim Sainsbury
Succeeded by	Anthony Nelson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 3 September 1985 – 15 April 1992
Prime Minister	Thatcher; Major
Sec. of State	King; Brooke
Preceded by	Chris Patten
Succeeded by	None
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Environment
In office 1984–1985
Sec. of State	Patrick Jenkin
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 1983–1984
Sec. of State	James Prior
Member of Parliament for North Wiltshire
In office 10 June 1983 – 8 April 1997
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	James Gray
Member of Parliament for Chippenham
In office 4 May 1979 – 13 May 1983
Personal details
Born	29 January 1942 (aged 75)
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	Eton College

Richard Francis Needham, 6th Earl of Kilmorey, PC (born 29 January 1942), usually known as Sir Richard Needham, is a British Conservative politician. A Member of Parliament from 1979 to 1997, he served as Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland between 1985 and 1992 and as Minister of State for Trade between 1992 and 1995.

Needham is the son of Patrick Needham, 5th Earl of Kilmorey, and Helen Bridget Faudel-Phillips, daughter of Sir Lionel Fandel-Phillips, 3rd Baronet. He was educated at Eton.

Needham was a member of the Somerset County Council between 1967 and 1974. In 1974, he stood unsuccessfully for parliament for the safe Labour seat of Pontefract and Castleford in the February general election, and was then also defeated at the more marginal Gravesend in October. He succeeded his father to the earldom in 1977. This is an Irish peerage and did not bar him from sitting in the House of Commons. At the 1979 general election, he was returned as Member of Parliament for Chippenham in Wiltshire. He was one of the "Wiltshire Wets", Conservative MPs from the county who expressed concern at the perceived loss of jobs resulting from the "monetarist" policies of Margaret Thatcher. His constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, when he was returned to the House of Commons for the new North Wiltshire constituency. He held the seat until he retired from Parliament at the 1997 general election.