Robin Squire

Robin Squire

Robin Clifford Squire (born 12 July 1944) was a British politician. He was the Conservative MP for Hornchurch from 1979 until 1997 when he lost the seat to John Cryer.

Squire was born and raised in South West London. After qualifying as an accountant he was employed by a finance company while being a Conservative Party activist. He became a member of Sutton Borough Council in 1968 and the Member of Parliament for Hornchurch in 1979. During the Thatcher years (1979 to 1990) Squire was considered to be a prominent "wet", opposed to the Conservative government's economic and employment policies. After Mrs Thatcher left office in 1990, Squire's political position strengthened and he held junior ministerial positions until the Conservative government fell in 1997.

Squire was described in The Guardian as "a user-friendly Tory wet" and in The Times as "a minister who wears pebble glasses and always looks as though he lives in a bedsit."

After losing his seat in the 1997 general election, Squire struggled initially to find a new career. His difficulties in this regard were widely reported on in the media. Since 2002, he has been the Trust Secretary/Chief Executive for the Veolia ES Cleanaway Trusts, based in Rainham, a group of several environmental charities operating in Havering and in Basildon and Castle Point, Essex.