Mike Nattrass

Mike Nattrass
Deputy Leader of UKIP
In office 5 October 2002 – 27 September 2006
Leader	Roger Knapman
Preceded by	Graham Booth
Succeeded by	David Campbell-Bannerman
Chairman of the UK Independence Party
In office 22 January 2000 – 5 October 2002
Leader	Jeffrey Titford
Preceded by	Nigel Farage
Succeeded by	David Lott
Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands
In office 10 June 2004 – 2 July 2014
Preceded by	John Corrie
Succeeded by	Jill Seymour
Personal details
Born	14 December 1945 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Independence from Europe (2013-present)
Other political affiliations	UK Independence Party (1998-2013)

Mike Henry Nattrass FRICS (born 14 December 1945) is an English politician who was a Member of the European Parliament, representing the West Midlands constituency, from 2004 to 2014. He was elected as a candidate for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) for the first time in June 2004 and re-elected in June 2009, but resigned from the party in September 2013. He lost his seat in the May 2014 election.

Biography

In 1994, Nattrass joined the New Britain Party, whose candidates were absorbed into the Referendum Party in 1997. He gained the highest vote in the West Midlands for the Referendum Party at the 1997 general election.^[1] In 1998, he accepted an invitation to join UKIP from its leader Michael Holmes and sat on the UKIP National Executive Committee. In 2000 he became Party Chairman under Leader Jeffrey Titford and from 2002 to 2006 he was Deputy Leader under Roger Knapman.

Nattrass stood in many by-elections and general elections representing UKIP, including the May 2008 Crewe and Nantwich by-election and in South Staffordshire at the general election in 2010.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 2004, one of 12 seats won by UKIP, with 16.1% of the vote. Nattrass was re-elected in West Midlands in June 2009.

Nattrass failed a candidate assessment test in August 2013 and was deselected by the party for the 2014 European election.^[2] He took the party to court over the decision, but lost. He said he was considering standing as an independent at the next election.^[3] He left UKIP in September 2013.^[4][5]

Nattrass was in talks with the English Democrats about the possibility of joining them, and agreed to speak at their September 2013 conference, but he chose not to after the party prematurely claimed he was joining them,^[6] citing concerns about elements in the party.^[7] In November 2013, Nattrass announced the creation of his new party, called An Independence Party.^[8] At the 2014 European election, the party stood as Independence from Europe but failed to win any seats.

References

1. United Kingdom Election Results
2. "Mike Nattrass: West Midlands MEP 'failed' selection for UKIP". BBC News. 27 August 2013. Archived from the original on 27 August 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
3. Jonathan Walker (29 August 2013). "UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass loses selection battle". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
4. "West Midlands UKIP MEP Mike Nattrass quits party". BBC News. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
5. "Ukip a 'totalitarian party,' says resigning MEP". Channel 4 News. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
6. "Mike Nattrass denies joining English Democrats after UKIP exit". BBC News. 19 September 2013. Archived from the original on 19 September 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
7. Justin Parkinson (1 October 2013). "Ex-UKIP man dismisses English Democrats 'deal' claim". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Profile at European Parliament website