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The Right Honourable The Earl of Bradford
Tenure	30 August 1981 – present
Other titles	Viscount Newport
Born	(1947-10-03) 3 October 1947 (age 77)
Spouse(s)	Joanne Miller ​ ​(m. 1979; div. 2006)​ Dr Penelope Law ​ ​(m. 2008; div. 2021)​
Issue	Alexander Bridgeman, Viscount Newport The Hon. Henry Bridgeman The Hon. Benjamin Bridgeman Lady Alicia Bridgeman
Heir	Alexander Bridgeman
Parents	Gerald Bridgeman, 6th Earl of Bradford Mary Willoughby Montgomery

Richard Thomas Orlando Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford (born 3 October 1947), styled Viscount Newport from 1957 to 1981, is a British peer and businessman.

Background and education

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.

Career

In 1979, Bradford opened Porters English Restaurant in London's Covent Garden. He later opened the Covent Garden Grill next door. In January 2015 the restaurants closed as the landlord would not extend the lease and Bradford moved his business to Hertfordshire, where he opened Porters Restaurant in Berkhamsted. The restaurant closed on 30 September 2018.

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 the 2001 general election, he was a candidate for parliament in the House of Commons, running as a candidate for the UK Independence Party, obtaining 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.

Lord Bradford is an active campaigner against the sale of false titles of nobility. Bradford has alleged that he has been subjected to an online smear campaign in retaliation for his campaign, with unfavourable reviews being posted on TripAdvisor and the appearance of fraudulent review websites.

Family

On 15 September 1979, he married Joanne Elizabeth Miller, elder daughter of Mayfair bookmaker Benjamin Miller. They divorced in 2006. They have four children:

• Alexander Michael Orlando Bridgeman, Viscount Newport (born 6 September 1980), current steward of the Bradford Estates, who married Eliza Liepina on 18 May 2022.

• The Honourable Henry Gerald Orlando Bridgeman (born 18 April 1982), who married Lucinda Bodie on 27 May 2014.

• The Honourable Benjamin Thomas Orlando Bridgeman (born 7 February 1987).

• Lady Alicia Rose Bridgeman, who married Philip Warrilow-Wilson in September 2018.

On 30 August 2008, he married Dr. Penelope Ann Law, a consultant obstetrician and author of the book "Expecting a Baby? (One Born Every Minute)".

Works

• My Private Parts and The Stuffed Parrot (1984)
• The Eccentric Cookbook (1985)
• Stately Secrets (1994)
• Porters English Cookery Bible – Ancient and Modern, with Carol Wilson (2004)
• Porters Seasonal Celebrations Cookbook, with Carol Wilson (2007)

Notes

1. Dinkovski, Noli. "Covent Garden's Porters to relocate to Berkhamsted". bighospitality.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
2. Weston Park Foundation
3. "2001 General Election Results" (PDF). UK House of Commons. 7 June 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2007. p. 98, "Richard Bradford"
4. "West Midlands' Euro candidates". BBC News. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
5. "Peter Stringfellow backs Ukip in London council by-election". BBC News. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
6. Cramb, Auslan (11 December 2004). "How to lord it over your friends for only £29.99". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
7. Connor, Alan (20 March 2006). "Paying for the privilege". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
8. "Notts Lordship site provokes anger". This is Nottingham. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
9. Rayner, Gordon (18 January 2016). "Earl targeted by TripAdvisor smears as part of sinister online campaign against him". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Bradford
• Porters English Restaurant
• Fake Titles – a website run by Lord Bradford
• VIP Internet website
• Stately Homes website
• Restaurant Guide website

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United Kingdom	King George III Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn Benjamin Craven, 9th Earl of Craven Rupert Onslow, 8th Earl of Onslow Julian Marsham, 8th Earl of Romney John Pelham, 9th Earl of Chichester Francis Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton John Herbert, 8th Earl of Powis Simon Nelson, 10th Earl Nelson Alexander Kent Grey, 8th Earl Grey William Lowther, 9th Earl of Lonsdale Conroy Ryder, 8th Earl of Harrowby Prince Regent David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 7th Earl of Minto Charles Cathcart, 7th Earl Cathcart John Grimston, 7th Earl of Verulam Albert Eliot, 11th Earl of St Germans Mark Parker, 7th Earl of Morley Richard Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford King George IV John Scott, 6th Earl of Eldon Frederick Curzon, 7th Earl Howe Keith Rous, 6th Earl of Stradbroke James Temple-Gore-Langton, 9th Earl Temple of Stowe Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor King William IV Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham Fergus Leveson-Gower, 6th Earl Granville Edward Howard, 8th Earl of Effingham David Moreton, 7th Earl of Ducie Charles Pelham, 8th Earl of Yarborough Queen Victoria Thomas Coke, 8th Earl of Leicester Anthony Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough William Byng, 9th Earl of Strafford Mark Pepys, 9th Earl of Cottenham Graham Wellesley, 8th Earl Cowley David Ward, 5th Earl of Dudley Hugh Montgomerie, 7th Earl of Winton John Russell, 7th Earl Russell John Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie John Wodehouse, 5th Earl of Kimberley Richard Wortley, 5th Earl of Wharncliffe Simon Cairns, 6th Earl Cairns John Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton William Palmer, 5th Earl of Selborne John Northcote, 5th Earl of Iddesleigh Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook King Edward VII Evelyn Baring, 4th Earl of Cromer Ivor Windsor-Clive, 4th Earl of Plymouth Edward Foljambe, 5th Earl of Liverpool King George V Harry Primrose, 4th Earl of Midlothian Michael Hicks Beach, 3rd Earl St Aldwyn David Beatty, 3rd Earl Beatty Alexander Haig, 3rd Earl Haig Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh Roderick Balfour, 5th Earl of Balfour Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith Patrick Jellicoe, 3rd Earl Jellicoe Peter Mackay, 4th Earl of Inchcape William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel King George VI Simon Bowes-Lyon, 6th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Benedict Baldwin, 5th Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Peter Wood, 3rd Earl of Halifax Brer Ruthven, 3rd Earl of Gowrie David Lloyd George, 4th Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma Queen Elizabeth II Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis Mark Cunliffe-Lister, 4th Earl of Swinton John Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee Simon Marquis, 3rd Earl of Woolton David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon Alexander Macmillan, 2nd Earl of Stockton
Italics in entries mean the peer also holds a previously listed earldom of higher precedence

• 1947 births
• Living people
• People educated at Harrow School
• Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
• Earls of Bradford (1815 creation)
• UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates
• Bridgeman family
• Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers
• UK Independence Party hereditary peers
• Hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999