Keith Bright

Graduating from the University of London, Bright worked for a wide variety of companies including Formica, Sime Darby and Associated Biscuits.{{Cite book|last1=Bright|first1=Keith|last2=Porter|first2=Melinda Camber|last3=Flicek|first3=Joseph R.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1137741954|title=Night angel : one-woman musical|isbn=978-1-942231-35-6|edition=First printing POD|location=Sag Harbor, New York|oclc=1137741954}}

Bright was headhunted by the Greater London Council (GLC) to lead London Transport, despite having no experience in the transportation industry. He was appointed Chairman of the London Transport Executive (LTE) in 1982.{{cite news|last=Baily|first=Michael|date=18 May 1982|title=Top LT job is offered to food firm man|page=2|newspaper=The Times|issue=61236|url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/873/219/73132259w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS35490482&dyn=40!xrn_5_0_CS35490482&hst_1|accessdate=14 July 2010}} Underground ridership was declining, and efforts to reduce costs by cutting service, increasing ticket prices or cutting staff were blocked by Unions and the GLC – led by Ken Livingstone.

Following political rows between the Conservative government and the GLC, the London Regional Transport Act 1984 removed the transport powers of the GLC, with LTE becoming London Regional Transport. Bright remained as chairman, reporting directly to the Secretary of State for Transport. Improvements such as the Travelcard, automatic ticket machines and more night buses helped to improve service and increase revenue. Expenditure was also cut, with job losses due to the privatisation of London bus services.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=21 January 1988|title=Huge job losses at LRT {{!}} 21st January 1988 {{!}} The Commercial Motor Archive|url=http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/21st-january-1988/18/huge-job-losses-at-lrt|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-03|website=archive.commercialmotor.com}} The requirement of taxpayer support was halved to £95m a year, 2 years ahead of schedule.{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Underground in London|date=18 June 1988|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/18th-june-1988/8/underground-in-london-|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-03|website=The Spectator}} By 1987, the Underground was 40% busier than its 1982 low – with future plans for transport improvements such as the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee Line Extension well underway. In 1987, Bright was knighted for services to London Transport.{{Cite web|title=Sir Keith Bright, Chairman and Chief Executive of London Regional...|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/sir-keith-bright-chairman-and-chief-executive-of-london-news-photo/1041716676|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Getty Images|language=en-gb}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=31 December 1986|title=New Year's Honours 1987|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50764/data.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=3 February 2020|website=London Gazette}}

In 1987, a major fire at King's Cross Underground station killed 31 people.{{Cite news|last=Raines|first=Howell|date=1987-11-19|title=32 Are Killed in Fire At London Subway; 80 Reported Injured|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/19/world/32-are-killed-in-fire-at-london-subway-80-reported-injured.html|access-date=2021-02-03|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=1987-11-18|title=1987: King's Cross station fire 'kills 27'|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/18/newsid_2519000/2519675.stm|access-date=2021-02-03}} Following the fire, Bright offered to resign; however, Transport Secretary Paul Channon requested Bright to stay as chairman throughout the subsequent public inquiry. During the inquiry, Bright was criticised for suggesting that an arsonist was to blame for the fire.{{Cite web|first=|date=1988-11-10|title=London Subway Officials Quit Over Fire Criticism|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-10-mn-500-story.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} In 1988, the Fennell Report into the fire was published, which revealed serious issues with the safety of the Underground and its management culture.{{Cite book|last=Fennell, Desmond, 1929-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/19271585|title=Investigation into the King's Cross underground fire.|date=1988|publisher=[For] Department of Transport [by] H.M.S.O|others=Great Britain. Department of Transport.|isbn=0-10-104992-7|location=London|pages=|oclc=19271585}} Both Bright and Tony Ridley (Chairman of London Underground) resigned. He was replaced on an caretaker basis by Sir Neil Shields (1988–89),{{cite web|date=17 September 2002|title=Sir Neil Shields |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1407480/Sir-Neil-Shields.html|accessdate=4 February 2010|publisher=The Daily Telegraph (London)}} and then by Sir Wilfrid Newton. London Regional Transport subsequently paid Bright £34,000.{{Cite web |title=Sir Keith Bright (Hansard, 18 October 1989) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1989/oct/18/sir-keith-bright#S6CV0158P0_19891018_CWA_94 |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=api.parliament.uk}}

After his resignation from London Transport, Bright became chairman of Electrocomponents. Further chairperson and directorship positions followed including Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, British Airports Authority and Brent Walker.

After several years with Alzheimer's disease,{{Cite web|last=Bright|first=Octavia|date=2020-07-14|title=Alzheimer's Turned My Sense Of Responsibility Upside Down|url=https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a33274996/alzheimers-responsibility-turned-upside-down/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-03|website=ELLE|language=en-GB}} Bright died in January 2021 from COVID-19, aged 89. Bright was survived by his wife Margot and their daughter Octavia, as well as a son and daughter from his first marriage.{{Cite news |date=2021-01-22 |title=Sir Keith Bright, London Transport chairman when the King's Cross fire broke out – obituary |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/01/22/sir-keith-bright-london-transport-chairman-kings-cross-fire/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |issn=0307-1235}}

In July 2023, Octavia published a memoir, This Ragged Grace: On Recovery and Renewal, about her relationship with her father in his later years living with dementia.{{Cite news |last=Bright |first=Octavia |date=2023-06-06 |title='I knew the terror of lost time': how my father's dementia echoed my own alcoholism |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jun/06/terror-of-lost-time-how-my-fathers-dementia-echoed-my-own-alcoholism |access-date=2023-08-29 |issn=0261-3077}}

• List of heads of public transport authorities in London

{{reflist}}

{{Heads of public transport in London}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, Keith}}

Category:1931 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Alumni of the University of London

Category:People associated with transport in London

Category:20th-century English businesspeople