I am sad to learn of the passing of one of my distinguished predecessors as MP for Romford, Dick Leonard (Labour) who sadly died on Thursday, aged 90. He represented Romford from 1970 to February 1974, which in those days included Harold Hill.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dick on two occasions, the first of which was for tea in the House of Lords with my friend Lord Lipsey who kindly introduced us. It was nice to be meet such a charming and knowledgeable man who also seemed pleased to meet one of his successors.
Dick Leonard had clearly taken great pride in representing Romford during his short time as our MP and was a man of great integrity from the Labour ‘old school’ that Romford people in those days would have respected greatly.
Thank you Dick, for your service to our town and for your public service to our country. On behalf of all the people of Romford, may I offer our condolences to Dick Leonard’s friends and family at this sad time.
