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Serge Lourie

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Serge Lourie
Born
Alexander Serge Lourie

(1946-02-22)22 February 1946
London, England
Died10 September 2024(2024-09-10) (aged 78)
London, England
Political partyLabour (until 1981)
SDP (1981–88)
Liberal Democrats (since 1988)
SpouseJulia

Alexander Serge Lourie CF (22 February 1946 – 10 September 2024[1]) was a former Leader of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames,[2] where he was a local government councillor from 1982 to 2010.[2] He was Chairman of the United Kingdom Housing Trust,[3] Kingston Hospital NHS Trust[4] and Sanctuary Housing Association.[5] He had also been the General Secretary of Help the Aged[6] and a board member of the London Pensions Fund Authority[7][8] and the Notting Hill Housing Trust.

Early life and education

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Lourie was born on 22 February 1946. He was of Russian extraction and was the great-grandson of Lev Philippovitch Wolkenstein. His mother was Anna Rootchenko.[9] He was educated at St Paul's School, London[10] and Worcester College, Oxford[11] (1965–68), graduating from the University of Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[12]

Career

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Lourie qualified as a chartered accountant with Cooper Brothers in 1971 (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).[13] He was a Labour Party member of Westminster City Council (1971–74)[14] and the Greater London Council member for Hornchurch (1973–77)[15] where he was chair of scrutiny and vice-chair of finance.

He was elected as an SDP–Liberal Alliance councillor for Kew on Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council in 1982, becoming a Liberal Democrat following the merger of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party in 1988. In 1990, he was re-elected as a Liberal Democrat.[2] Lourie spent fourteen years as Leader, and also served as Deputy Leader and Leader of the Opposition. He lost his seat in 2010.

In 1989 he was awarded a fellowship by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, studying urban renewal and housing in France and the United States.[16] From 1990 and 1994 he chaired the London Boroughs Grants Committee, awarding grants of around £29m to the voluntary sector in Greater London.[17] He was a board member of the London Tourist Board where he deputised for the chairman, Sir John Egan. He chaired the Independent Panel on members' remuneration for the Association of Police Authorities[18] and was a member of the Metropolitan Police Committee.[19]

He was a board member of Richmond Charities[20] and of Kew Community Trust[21] as well as chairing Poems in the Waiting Room,[22] a British charity providing poetry cards to doctors' waiting rooms in England and Wales. He was a patron of Cultural Co-operation, a charity that ran world music festivals.

In 2015, he was appointed Chairman of the Charity Appeal Committee of Kingston Hospital to raise £750,000 to improve the treatment of patients with dementia.[23]

Personal life

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He lived in Kew, Greater London and was married with two children.[12] He was a regular runner, who completed five marathons, and ran frequently in the Richmond Park parkrun.[9][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Richmond parkrun 827 – 14th September 2024 CARPE DIEM". Richmond parkrun. 15 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Wickham, Chris (14 May 2010). "Ex-Richmond Council leader Serge Lourie loses seat after 28 years". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. ^ UKHT Annual Report 1987. United Kingdom Housing Trust.
  4. ^ Annual Report 31 March 2001. Kingston Hospital NHS Trust.
  5. ^ Annual Reports 1989–92. Sanctuary Housing Association.
  6. ^ Annual reports 1976 and 1977. Help the Aged.
  7. ^ "London Pension Fund Authority – new appointments to Board". Local Government Chronicle. 15 July 1998. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Livingstone revamps Pension Fund Board". Local Government Chronicle. 7 July 2001. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Ex council leader to run the Virgin Money London Marathon for Alzheimer's Research UK". Alzheimer's Research UK. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  10. ^ Old Pauline Club Directory 2010.
  11. ^ Bate, Jonathan & Goodman, Jessica (2014). Worcester: Portrait of an Oxford College. Third Millennium Information. p. 216. ISBN 978-1906507725.
  12. ^ a b Early, Catherine (9 March 2007). "Parking charge pioneer". Planning Resource. Haymarket Media Group Ltd. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  13. ^ PriceWaterhouseCoopers Alumni London Directory. PriceWaterhouseCoopers. p. 147.
  14. ^ "All members of Westminster City Council". Westminster City Council Election Results. www.election.demon.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  15. ^ GLC Minutes 1976. Greater London Council.
  16. ^ "Fellow's profile: Serge Lourie:Urban renewal and housing". Churchill Fellowship. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  17. ^ Minutes 1990–1994. London Boroughs Grants Scheme.
  18. ^ Lourie, Serge (October 2001). Report of the Independent Panel on Police Authority Members' Allowances. Association of Police Authorities. p. 3.
  19. ^ "Home Secretary announces new members of Metropolitan Police Committee" (Press release). Central Office of Information. 29 July 1998. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Trustees". Richmond Charities. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Kew Community Trust". Companies in the UK.
  22. ^ "Contact us". Poems in the Waiting Room.
  23. ^ Sharman, Jon (14 April 2015). "Kingston Hospital to launch £750,000 fundraising appeal to improve dementia patients' stay". Surrey Comet. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
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