The UK Independence Party is a Eurosceptic,right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s,when it gained two members of parliament and was the largest party representing the UK in the European Parliament. The party is currently led by Neil Hamilton.
Nigel Paul Farage is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party from 2019 to 2021. He served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union in 2020.
South Thanet is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Craig Mackinlay,a Conservative.
John Douglas Wilson Carswell is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017,co-founded Vote Leave and currently serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Philip Thomas Hollobone is a British Conservative Party politician and former investment banker. He has been the Member of Parliament for Kettering since the 2005 general election.
David Campbell Bannerman is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2009 to 2019. He is currently Chairman of The Freedom Association. He served as Deputy Leader of UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 until 2010,when he was replaced by Paul Nuttall.
Rochester and Strood is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kelly Tolhurst,a Conservative. Since 2022,she has served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Household.
Nicole Sinclaire is a British politician and former leader of the We Demand a Referendum Party who served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 2009 to 2014.
Mark John Reckless is a British politician who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East from 2016 until 2021,having previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood from 2010 to 2015. Initially a member of the Conservative Party,he crossed the floor to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in September 2014. He has since changed parties a further three times.
Gordon Henderson is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency in Kent since the 2010 general election. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
Janice Ann Atkinson is a former British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament for the South East England region. She formerly represented the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and later sat as an independent:she was elected in 2014,second on the list for the region behind Nigel Farage. In March 2015,she was expelled from UKIP for "bringing the party into disrepute" after her chief of staff was recorded trying to fraudulently inflate her expenses.
On 9 October 2014,a by-election was held for the UK parliamentary constituency of Clacton in Essex,England. The by-election was triggered by the Conservative MP for Clacton,Douglas Carswell,defecting to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and subsequently resigning his seat to seek re-election as its candidate.
The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 7 May 2015 to elect 650 Members of Parliament to the House of Commons. It was the only general election held under the rules of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and was the last general election to be held before the United Kingdom would vote to end its membership to the European Union (EU). Local elections took place in most areas of England on the same day.
A by-election was held on 20 November 2014 for the UK parliamentary constituency of Rochester and Strood in Kent,England. The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Reckless called it on joining the UK Independence Party (UKIP),from the Conservatives. He resigned his seat.
Kelly Jane Tolhurst is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood since 2015. A member of the Conservative Party,she served as Minister of State for Schools and Childhood from September to October 2022.
William Peter Wragg is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester since May 2015. He is a vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee.
Christopher Paul Davies is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire from 2015 to 2019. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
Nigel Farage is a former British MEP who has stood as a candidate representing eurosceptic parties UK Independence Party (UKIP) and The Brexit Party since 1994. He was a Member of the European Parliament representing South East England since the 1999 election,winning re-election four times. Farage has stood for election to the House of Commons seven times,in five general elections and two by-elections,but has not won any of those elections. He was also a proponent of the UK leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum,in which the electorate voted to do so by 52% to 48%.
The United Kingdom General Election 2015 –Party Spending Investigation was a probe involving the UK Electoral Commission,numerous police forces,and the Crown Prosecution Service into spending by political parties and candidates,primarily during the 2015 general election campaign. This co-ordinated investigation has been described as 'an unprecedented and extraordinary situation'.
A by-election was held in the UK Parliament constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire on 1 August 2019 after Chris Davies,who had held the seat for the Conservatives since the 2015 general election,was unseated by a recall petition. The by-election was won by Jane Dodds of the Liberal Democrats.
