Rima Horton

Rima Horton
Member of the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council
In office 1986 –4 May 2006
Personal details
Born	Rima Elizabeth Horton (1947-01-31) 31 January 1947 (age 76) London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Alan Rickman ​ ​ (m. 2012;died 2016)​
Education	University of Southampton
Occupation	Lecturer

Rima Elizabeth Horton (born 31 January 1947) ^[1] is a retired English academic and former Labour Party politician. She was a member of the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council from 1986 to 2006, and worked as a senior lecturer at Kingston University.

Early life

Rima Elizabeth Horton was born in the Bayswater neighborhood of London, the third of four children of Elice Irene (née Frame) and Wilfred Stewart Horton. ^[2] Her mother was from Wales while her father was London-born. ^[3] Horton attended the co-Ed private St. Vincent's primary school, ^[4] City of London School for Girls ^[5] and later the University of Southampton. ^[1] She performed in theatre at school and then in several amateur groups, such as the Brook Drama Club which took her to Paris in 1962 when she was only 15. Fellow members reported that she already had a strong presence and a real talent for directing the group. At 18, she won the Most Promising Youngster Award at the Southhall Music & Drama Festival, where young Alan Rickman acted beside her. ^{[6] [7]}

Career

Horton won election as a Labour Party councillor on the Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council in 1986, ^[4] serving as its Chief Whip and a spokesperson on education during her tenure. ^[1] She lost her place on the council in May 2006, as "part of the national shift" (in which there was a swing against Labour, who had been in government nationally for nine years by that point). She twice ran as a Labour candidate for Parliament, losing to the Conservative candidate both times. ^[4] Horton also worked as a senior economics lecturer at Kingston University in London. She retired in 2012. ^{[1] [4]}

Horton served on the board of directors of The Making Place, a children's charity. She was appointed in 2002 and stepped down in 2005. ^[8] She has also served on the board of trustees of the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill. ^[9]

Writing

Horton was a contributor to The Elgar Companion to Radical Political Economy in 1994, penning a piece titled "Inequality". In it, she posed three questions: whether people are "naturally equal in essence"; whether and when the redistribution of wealth is justified; and, if so, how much is "fair"? She cited "much recent work" suggesting that health status and mortality rates in developed countries "actually depends on the distribution of income". ^[10]

Personal life

Horton met aspiring actor Alan Rickman in 1965, ^[11] when they both found themselves in an amateur theatre group at Chelsea College of Arts ^[12] he was attending. She was 18 and he was 19. ^[13] They were married in a private ceremony in New York City in 2012. ^[14] Their marriage was announced publicly three years afterwards, in 2015. Horton lived with Rickman from 1977 until his death in January 2016. ^{[15] [16]}

References

Footnotes

1. Wood 1992, p. 76.
2. England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007. General Register Office.
      England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. Vol. 12. p. 1804. Print.
3. Birth Certificate for Rima E. Horton. 31 January 1947. File No. 7221822-1. London, England: General Register Office.
      England & Wales births 1837-2006. Vol. 5D, p. 406. Print.
      England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915. Vol. 2A, p. 337. Print.
4. Owoseje, Toyin (14 January 2016). "Who is Rima Horton, the childhood sweetheart Alan Rickman married shortly before his death?". International Business Times . Retrieved 19 January 2016.
      McGlone, Jackie (31 July 2006). "A man for all seasons". The Scotsman . Edinburgh . Retrieved 15 January 2016.
5. Wood, Alan A. The Times Guide to the House of Commons, April 1992. p. 80.
6. Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002480/19640423/040/0003
7. "Register" . Retrieved 27 August 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Ms Rima Elizabeth Horton". Companies In the UK. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
9. Cabal 2005, p. 3.
10. Elgar 1994, pp. 203–207.
11. Cain, Sian (21 November 2020). "Alan Rickman's 27 volumes of diaries to be published as one book". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
12. "Alan Rickman And Wife Rima Horton Had A 50-Year Love Story". HuffPost. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
13. "Alan Rickman secretly marries Rima Horton". USA TODAY. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
14. "Alan Rickman and Longtime Love Rima Horton Secretly Wed 3 Years Ago". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
15. Chiu, Melody (23 April 2015). "Alan Rickman and Longtime Love Rima Horton Secretly Wed 3 Years Ago". People . Retrieved 14 January 2016.
16. "Alan Rickman and 50 Years of Love with Rima Horton". Hitberry. Retrieved 20 September 2019.

Sources

• Cabal, Fermín (2005). Tejas Verdes: Gate Theatre Presents . Oberon Books. ISBN   1840025379. Cited as Cabal 2005.
• Horton, Rima (1994). Arestis, Philip; Sawyer, Malcolm C. (eds.). The Elgar Companion to Radical Political Economy. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN   184376864X. Cited as Elgar 1994.
• Wood, Alan H.; Wood, Roger, eds. (1992). Guide to the House of Commons, April 1992. Times Newspapers Ltd. Cited as Wood 1992.