Submission declined on 2 March 2026 by Theroadislong (talk).
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Submission declined on 12 December 2025 by Smallangryplanet (talk). This draft's references do not show that the person meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for people. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that:
Declined by Smallangryplanet 6 months ago.
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Comment: Most of the sourcing is from his uni's webpage, the only 2nd party source is the article about his election loss. Smallangryplanet (talk) 11:27, 12 December 2025 (UTC)
Richard Austen-Baker is a British researcher and a senior lecturer of law at Lancaster University. His research interests include the theory, doctrine, and history of contracts, commercial law, the law of torts, and common law remedies.[1]
Early life and education
editRichard Austen-Baker studied law at Cardiff University, where he obtained his LLB law degree. He later read law for the Inns of Court School of Law where he was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1997.[1]
Austen-Baker received his Ph.D. after studying at Reading University under the supervision of Professor T.A. Downes. His doctoral thesis regarded relational contract theory.[1]
Academic and political career
editAusten-Baker began teaching in 1999 and has taught at universities like Warwick, Reading and Leeds, before joining Lancaster University in 2004 where he is now a senior lecturer of law.
Austen-Baker was first elected as a councillor for Lancaster City Council for the ward of Ellel in 2019, with 21% of the vote as a Conservative candidate.[2] Between 2020-2021, Austen-Baker served on the Planning Regulatory Committee, Licencing Committee, and was a substitute on the Standards Committee.[3] In 2021, Austen-Baker was appointed chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.[4] By 2021, Austen-Baker had also become the chair of the Conservatives, but resigned as chair in 2022.[5]
Austen-Baker sought re-election in 2023, but lost the Green Party candidates. He received 13% of the vote.[6][7]
During his tenure, Austen-Baker argued against calls for moving the current electoral system to proportional representation, instead, he argued in favour of the current first-past-the-post system.[8] He has also argued that students at university should be wary of Wikipedia articles for their studies, highlighting some articles can be "exotically inaccurate".[9]
In 2021, plans were unveiled to build 9,000 new homes in Lancaster, next to Lancaster University, known as the 'Bailrigg Garden Village Area Action Plan'[10][11]. Following this, Austen-Baker put forward a motion for the council to improve local primary care facilities. However, following all-party talks, he amended his resolution to not include the creation of new primary care services for private healthcare individuals. He also called on the council to the future needs of the city, such as transportation and education. Austen-Baker also mentioned that, in regards to issues with GPs, the issue is not that we 'don't have enough doctors' but that there aren't 'enough hours'.[12]
Research & major works
editBooks
editAusten-Baker has published four legal books regarding contract and commercial law between 2014-2023.[13]
- Austen-Baker, R. (2023). Implied Terms in English Contract Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978 1 80088 517 2
- Austen-Baker, R., Akintola, K., Ahmed, M., & Adeyemo, F., (2022) Principles of Commercial Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978 1 80088 358 1
- Austen-Baker, R. and Zhou, Q. (2022). Understanding Contract Law. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781003159667
- Austen-Baker, R. and Zhou, Q. (2014). Contract in Context. Routledge. ISBN 9781135096137
Research
editAusten-Baker has been the principle investigator of implied terms in contract law since 2005 at Lancaster University.[14]
References
edit- 1 2 3 "Richard Austen-Baker". Lancaster University research directory. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
- ↑ "Election results for Ellel Ward, 2 May 2019". committeeadmin.lancaster.gov.uk. 2019-05-02. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
- ↑ Lancaster City Council Minutes Meeting. (2020). Available at: https://committeeadmin.lancaster.gov.uk/documents/g7559/Public%20minutes%2018th-May-2020%2018.00%20Council.pdf?T=11 [Accessed 22 Nov. 2025]
- ↑ Lancaster City Council Minutes Meeting. (2021). [Online] p.5. Available at: https://committeeadmin.lancaster.gov.uk/documents/g7570/Public%20minutes%2017th-May-2021%2018.00%20Council.pdf?T=11[Accessed 22 Nov. 2025]
- ↑ "Three Lancaster city councillors resign from Conservative group leadership". Lancaster Guardian. 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
- ↑ "Election results for Ellel Ward, 4 May 2023". committeeadmin.lancaster.gov.uk. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
- ↑ Kemp, Ellie (2023-05-02). "Election results from Lancaster local council election 2023 count". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2025-12-12.
- ↑ Macdonald, Robert (2022-09-17). "City council calls for proportional representation in general elections". Lancs Live. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
- ↑ Coomer, Adam (2013-05-13). "Should university students use Wikipedia?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-02-26.
- ↑ Hatmaker, Julia (2022-02-14). "Bailrigg Garden Village vision approved". Place North West. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
- ↑ "Council approves 9,000 new homes plan for Lancaster". BBC News. 2021-08-26. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
- ↑ "Leading Lancaster Tory says current GP system is 'dysfunctional'". Lancaster Guardian. 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
- ↑ ThriftBooks. "Richard Austen-Baker Books | List of books by author Richard Austen-Baker". ThriftBooks. Retrieved 2025-12-12.
- ↑ "Implied Terms". Lancaster University research directory. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
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