All of us at Popular Conservatism were shocked and saddened at the news of the sudden death of Simon Richards. Simon was a dear friend and mentor to many of us and after many decades at The Freedom Association, retired in 2020 as Chief Executive.
An obituary in today's edition of The Times can be found here:
"He was more of an organiser than a public face, a builder of alliances who took particular pleasure in mentoring young libertarians. He was once described as “the nicest man in politics”, one who preferred to reason than rant, but his mild manners concealed an inner steeliness."
(A copy of the printed version is below.)
Our Head of Campaigns, Andrew Allison, who worked with Simon for many years and was a close friend, published a tribute to him earlier this week. In it he said:
"Simon Richards was many things to many people, but to me he was a dear friend. Spending time with him was always something to look forward to and was never a chore. We had days filled with fun and laughter. I will miss him enormously, as will all his many friends."
Many further tributes have been made to him, which are richly deserved. He will be missed by so many of us. We send our condolences to his family.
