Christopher Nigel Beard (10 October 1936 – 31 July 2017) was a British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexleyheath and Crayford in London from 1997 to 2005.

Nigel Beard
Beard as an MP
Member of Parliament
for Bexleyheath and Crayford
In office
1 May 1997 – 11 April 2005
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byDavid Evennett
Personal details
Born
Christopher Nigel Beard

(1936-10-10)10 October 1936
Leeds,[1] England
Died31 July 2017(2017-07-31) (aged 80)
Surrey, England
Political partyLabour

He previously contested several parliamentary constituencies: Woking at the 1979 general election, Portsmouth North at the 1983 general election and Erith and Crayford at the 1992 general election. At the 1997 general election, he was returned as MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford. Before this, he had been senior research manager for ICI and Zeneca. He retained the seat at the 2001 election but lost it in the 2005 election to David Evennett of the Conservative Party.

Beard was a loyal follower of the Labour whip, voting for the Iraq War and other government policies.[2] He also introduced a Private Member's Bill to fix British Summer Time as standard time all year round. He died at the age of 80 in Surrey[3] after a long illness.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Nigel Beard". The Guardian. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  3. ^ "DOR Q3/2017 in SURREY (759-1I)". GRO Online Indexes. General Register Office for England and Wales. Entry Number 515943226. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ^ May, Luke (8 August 2017). "Nigel Beard, Bexleyheath's first and only Labour MP, has died aged 80". Bexley Times. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath and Crayford
19972005
Succeeded by