Richard standing for pre-selection for Wentworth
September 5, 2018 by J-Wire Newsdesk
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Following the shock removal of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister two weeks ago and his subsequent resignation as Member for Wentworth, the local electors will vote in a by-election potentially as early as mid-October.
Richard Shields with his family
Wentworth is historically a safe Liberal seat, but with the removal of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister and an anti-Liberal sentiment emanating from the activities of the last few weeks, this election will be a tight one.
The Liberal Party has recently announced that nine candidates will be contesting the preselection which will be a vote of approximately 200 delegates, of which two-thirds will be local.
Wentworth, as readers would know, has one of the highest proportion of Jewish electors – with the recent census confirming the actual figure to be 12.5%.
Going through the list of candidates, only one Jewish candidate is present.
His name is Richard Shields.
He is serving Liberal Councillor on Woollahra Council, along with Isabelle Shapiro, and he is a former Deputy State Director of the Liberal Party. He is also a long-term member of the Party.
Richard grew up in Double Bay, attended Double Bay Public School and Sydney Boys High. He was Bar Mitzvahed at Emanuel Synagogue by Rabbi Brian Fox and taught by Cantor Michael Deutsch. He also married his wife Shoshana at Emanuel Synagogue and they now have three children and live in Double Bay.
Richard is heavily involved in the Maccabi Touch Football Club and plays for the Maccabi Goldies Touch team, together with Shoshana, his brother and sister-in-law and also many Foundation Members of the Club.
Richard is a Senior Executive in the General Insurance Sector.
If pre-selected and then elected he most likely will be in opposition for some time given the Liberal dramas recently. There are other candidates like the popular Liberal Christine Forster too.
Whether you like Shorten or not, and I dont like him, he runs a tight ship in the ALP with little internal conflict visible.
I have known Richard for 26 years and he will be an incredible asset.
All the very best to you, Richard Shields; not that the Libs deserve power of any kind.