Richard Thomas Orlando Bridgeman, 7th Earl of Bradford (born 3 October 1947), styled Viscount Newport from 1957 to 1981, is a British peer, politician and businessman.
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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 in Hawkhurst, Kent; 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 Covent Garden, London. 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 the 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.
Bradford stood for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) at the 2001 general election in the constituency of Stafford. He received 2,315 votes (5.2%), losing to David Kidney, but achieving the fourth-best result for UKIP. He stood for UKIP again at the 2004 European Parliament election for West Midlands in 2004, coming eighth; seven candidates were elected. In May 2012, he stood unsuccessfully for UKIP in a by-election in the Hyde Park ward of Westminster City Council, with the support of the 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 Benjamin Miller, a Mayfair bookmaker. 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;
Hon. Henry Gerald Orlando Bridgeman (born 18 April 1982), who married Lucinda Bodie on 27 May 2014;
Hon. Benjamin Thomas Orlando Bridgeman (born 7 February 1987); and
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)