Matt Ridley

Matthew White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley (born 7 February 1958) is a British journalist and businessman. Ridley is best known for his writings on science, the environment, and economics. He has written several science books including The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature (1994), Genome (1999), The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves (2010) and The Evolution of Everything: How Ideas Emerge (2015). He publishes a blog, and has been a regular contributor to The Times newspaper. Ridley is a libertarian, and a staunch supporter of Brexit. Since 2013, he has been a Conservative hereditary peer, with a seat in the House of Lords.Ridley was chairman of the UK bank Northern Rock from 2004 to 2007, during which period Northern Rock experienced the first run on a British bank in 150 years. Ridley resigned and the bank was bailed out by the UK government leading to the nationalisation of Northern Rock. 2Early life and education Ridley's parents were Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley (1925–2012), and Lady Anne Katharine Gabrielle Lumley (1928–2006), the daughter of Lawrence Roger Lumley, 11th Earl of Scarbrough. He is the nephew of the late Conservative MP and minister Nicholas Ridley and the great grandson of Edwin Lutyens.Ridley attended Eton College from 1970 to 1975 and then went on to Magdalen College, Oxford, to study zoology. Obtaining a BA degree with first class honours, Ridley continued with research on the mating system of the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) supervised by Chris Perrins for his DPhil degree in 198