Giles Chichester

Last updated

Giles Chichester
Member of the European Parliament
for South West England
In office
10 June 1999 –26 May 2014
Residence(s) Devon, United Kingdom
Alma mater Westminster School
Christ Church, Oxford

Giles Bryan Chichester (born 29 July 1946) is a British Conservative Party politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England and Gibraltar from 1999 until he retired 2014. He was elected as Vice-President of the European Parliament on 6 July 2011 to replace Silvana Koch-Mehrin who had resigned over plagiarism allegations.

Contents

Chichester was born in London and educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. Since 1969, he has worked in the family business, Francis Chichester Ltd (publishers of maps, guides and educational wallcharts), founded by his father Sir Francis Chichester KBE, and still lives in the family home at 9 St James's Place, London SW1.

He was MEP for Devon and East Plymouth from 1994 to 1999 and represented South West England in the European Parliament from 1999 until 2014. On 23 July 2004 he was elected chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.

He is a former chairman of the Carlton Club Political Committee and is chairman of his family business publishing maps.

Chichester describes himself as a "climate change sceptic". [1]

Expenses

On 5 June 2008, Chichester voluntarily stepped down as Leader of the Conservative MEPs in order to clear his name after it was alleged that since 1996 he had wrongly sent European parliamentary funds for secretarial and office services through his family business of which he was a paid director: he was succeeded by his deputy, Philip Bushill-Matthews. Chichester insisted it was his understanding that the contract had been accepted by the EU Parliament in 1999 and in 2004, and that he transferred money for his political staff through the company simply as an easier means of administration. [2] [3] The European Parliament suggested that a change in the Financial Regulation in 2003 meant this arrangement could constitute a potential conflict of interest.

The situation arose while as Leader of the Conservative MEPs Cameron had tasked Chichester to review and compile a code of conduct for Conservative MEPs' expenses after the embarrassment of MP Derek Conway. However, Chichester admitted that once he had been told the contract was not in order he cancelled it immediately and described it as a "whoopsy-daisy" surprise to him. [3]

Chichester stood again successfully for re-election as an MEP in 2009.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Brady</span> British politician (born 1967)

Graham Stuart Brady, Baron Brady of Altrincham,, is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Altrincham and Sale West from 1997 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the chairman of the 1922 Committee from 2010 to 2024, except for a brief period during the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Spelman</span> British politician (born 1958)

Dame Caroline Alice Spelman is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Meriden in the West Midlands from 1997 to 2019. From May 2010 to September 2012 she was the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in David Cameron's coalition cabinet, and was sworn as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.

David Wilshire was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in Surrey from 1987 to 2010. Wilshire was considered to be to the right of the party's mainstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Neill</span> British Conservative politician (born 1952)

Sir Robert James MacGillivray Neill KC (Hon) is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromley and Chislehurst from 2006 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom</span> Election

The 2004 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's part of the wider 2004 European Parliament election which was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union. The United Kingdom's part of this election was held on Thursday 10 June 2004. The election also coincided with the 2004 local elections and the London Assembly and mayoral elections. In total, 78 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Helmer</span> British politician and businessman

Roger Helmer is a British politician and businessman. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region from 1999 to 2017. Before becoming an MEP, he was a business executive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Ashworth</span> British politician

Richard James Ashworth is a former British politician, who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 until 2019. He formerly sat in the European Parliament for the Conservative Party, and was that party's leader there from March 2012 to November 2013. In April 2019 Ashworth defected to Change UK, but was not elected to the European Parliament at the 2019 election held the following month.

Philip Bushill-Matthews was a British politician who was Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands.

Densmore Ronald "Den" Dover is a British politician. Representing the Conservative Party, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Chorley from 1979 to 1997. He then served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the region of North West England, from 1999 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Purvis (politician)</span> British politician (1938–2022)

John Robert Purvis, CBE was a Conservative MEP for Mid Scotland and Fife (1979–1984) and for Scotland from 1999 to 2009 was one of Scotland's seven MEPs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michał Kamiński</span> Polish politician (born 1972)

Michał Tomasz Kamiński is a Polish politician and a member of the Senate with the Union of European Democrats. He was chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament from July 2009 until March 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Goodwill</span> British Conservative politician

Sir Robert Goodwill is a British Conservative Party politician and farmer who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Scarborough and Whitby from 2005 to 2024. He was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber. Goodwill served in Theresa May's government as Minister of State at the Home Office, the Department for Education, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom</span> European Parliament elections in the United Kingdom

The 2009 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009. The election was held concurrently with the 2009 local elections in England. In total, 72 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Conservatives and Reformists Group</span> European Parliament political group

The European Conservatives and Reformists Group is a soft Eurosceptic, anti-federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party European political party, but also includes MEPs from other European parties and MEPs without European party affiliation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashir Khanbhai</span> British politician (1945–2020)

Bashir Khanbhai was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward McMillan-Scott</span> British politician

Edward McMillan-Scott is a British politician. He was a pro-EU Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber constituency from 1984 until 2014. He was the last and one of the longest-serving UK Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament 2004–2014, holding its Human Rights and Democracy portfolio throughout. After losing his seat as an MEP he became active in campaigning against Brexit and coordinates the largest pro EU forum in the UK.

Andrew Simon Feldman, Baron Feldman of Elstree, is a British barrister, businessman and Conservative fundraiser and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom</span> Election

The 2014 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2014 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 22 May 2014, coinciding with the 2014 local elections in England and Northern Ireland. In total, 73 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation. England, Scotland and Wales use a closed-list party list system of PR, while Northern Ireland used the single transferable vote (STV).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar Conservatives</span> Political party of Gibraltar

The Conservative Party in Gibraltar is the part of the Conservative Party that operates in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is a branch of the South West Region of the Conservative Party. The party does not field candidates in the local elections in the territory, and so far has only ever stood candidates for the European Parliament constituency of South West England and Gibraltar.

The leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament was the most senior Conservative member of the European Parliament. The post was last held by Geoffrey Van Orden, who succeeded Ashley Fox in 2019. His term ended after the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.

References

  1. ↑ "TORY GIB MEP CRITICISES UK GOVT 'SPIN' ON CLIMATE". The Gibraltar Chronicle. 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  2. ↑ Charter, David; Elliott, Francis; Kennedy, Dominic (6 June 2008). "David Cameron forces resignation of Giles Chichester after expenses scandal". Times Online. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2010. Mr Cameron welcomed publicly the decision of Giles Chichester the MEP who admitted to breaking European Parliament rules by channeling £445,000 of allowances through a family company.
  3. 1 2 "Chichester Resigns As Tory MEP Leader". Sky News. 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2010. But the ex Tory MEP chairman was then forced to admit to a "whoops-a-daisy" moment when he apparently failed to spot a flaw in his own arrangements.
European Parliament
New constituency Member of European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar
2004 –2014 		Incumbent
New constituency Member of European Parliament for South West England
1999–2004 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of European Parliament for Devon and East Plymouth
1994–1999 		Constituency abolished
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.