Richards was born in Llanelli to Ivor George Richards and Lizzie Jane Richards. Welsh-speaking Richards was educated at Llandovery College and at Swansea University where he gained a first class honours degree in economics and statistics. On 22 September 1969 he began training as a Royal Marines Officer. He failed to complete training and therefore was never commissioned in to the Corps. Contrary to various published CVs he never served in Northern Ireland as a Royal Marines officer. He served on the intelligence staff of the Ministry of Defence, and worked as an economic forecaster. Richards, at one point, worked for MI-6 Richards first rose to public prominence in the 1980s as a Welsh-language newsreader for BBC Wales.
Although defeated in his constituency seat during the first Welsh Assemblyelections in 1999, he was elected to the new body as lead candidate on the Conservatives' regional top-up list. He was elected the Welsh Conservative Party Leader in a ballot of Welsh party members defeating Nick Bourne, who was then widely known in the media to be William Hague's first choice for the job. Richards stood down as leader after he was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on a young woman. Bourne was then appointed leader by Hague. Richards was cleared of assault in June 2000. Richards had the party whip withdrawn from him following his decision to abstain rather than vote with his fellow Conservatives against the Assembly's budget at the end of 1999. He continued to sit in the Assembly, as an 'Independent Conservative' until September 2002 when he resigned as an Assembly Member due to problems with alcohol. Richards and his successor, Nick Bourne were known for hating one another. In one interview, Richards said he would consider opposing Bourne if the latter stood for Police Commissioner. When Bourne lost his seat in the 2011 Assembly election, Rod Richards was quoted in the Western Mail saying, "It has been a great week, bin Laden on Sunday Bourne on Friday." Osama bin Laden had been killed by American special forces in the days before polling day. Once Bourne had been appointed party leader by William Hague, he refused to give Richards a portfolio in his 25 August reshuffle, leaving him as the only Welsh Conservative backbencher. Richards stated, "We are perfectly happy to continue to promote the Welsh language. But we will not discriminate against those Welsh people who don't speak Welsh, or indeed anyone else who comes to live in Wales"; and, on Plaid Cymru, "They are an anti-British party. They reject everything that is British: our history, our values, our great achievements, our language, indeed the very existence of our British family.... They want Wales out of the United Kingdom and into a federal European state. They want separation from England so that Wales can be ruled by Brussels."
Defection to UKIP
In July 2013, Richards defected to UKIP, after becoming "disillusioned with mainstream parties". He refused to be drawn on whether he wanted to seek UKIP's candidacy in the 2014 European Parliament election. Its then current MEP for Wales, John Bufton, stood down in June 2014, being replaced by Nathan Gill.
Personal life
Richards was married to a psychologist, Liz, until their divorce, after revelations in June 1996 of his extra-marital affair. The couple had three children. In 1999, while Welsh Conservative leader, Richards was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on a young woman but was acquitted after trial. At the High Court in London in February 2003, Richards was declared bankrupt with debts estimated at more than £300,000, which he linked to alcoholism. It was reported on 17 April 2008 that Richards had been arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a Conservative party worker. He was later released after receiving a caution from police. Richards became angry when the councillor, who was canvassing door-to-door, told him he hadn't been sent promotional literature as he was already listed as a prominent party member. When later asked about the incident, Richards said that he gave the young councillor, who was "half his age and twice his size", a "clip around the ear" for "being cheeky". He attributed the incident to lack of sleep. He died of cancer on 13 July 2019 at the age of 72.
