Janice Atkinson | |
---|---|
Member of the European Parliament for South East England | |
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019 [1] [2] | |
Preceded by | Marta Andreasen |
Personal details | |
Born | London,England | 31 August 1962
Political party | Independent (2015–present) |
Other political affiliations | National Council of European Resistance [3] UK Independence Party (2011–2015) [4] Conservative Party (circa 1980 (‘’claimed’’) –2011) [5] (active 2005–2011) [6] |
Spouse(s) | Steve Small (div.),Simon |
Children | 2 |
Website | janiceatkinson.co.uk European Parliament biography |
Janice Ann Atkinson (born 31 August 1962) 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. [7] [8]
Atkinson is a former member of the Conservative Party and ran a marketing business for two decades prior to becoming an MEP. As Janice Small,she was a press officer for the Conservatives in the south-east during the 2005 general election and in the 2010 general election,she was the Conservative candidate for Batley and Spen,finishing second,4,406 votes behind Labour incumbent Mike Wood. [9] She was also director of Conservative Action for Electoral Reform. [10]
Atkinson joined UKIP in 2011,citing David Cameron's failure to produce a referendum on European Union membership. [11] As Janice Atkinson-Small she wrote a column for the Daily Mail .[ citation needed ]
She was selected as the UKIP candidate for Folkestone and Hythe for the 2015 general election,before being expelled from the party and withdrawn as its candidate due to a 'serious financial irregularity'. [4]
On 16 June 2015,it was announced that Atkinson had joined the newly formed far-right group in the European Parliament,Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). [12]
Atkinson is an associate of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). [13]
Atkinson campaigned for Brexit.[ citation needed ] She also asked Home Secretary Sajid Javid to make it mandatory for the Union Jack to be displayed at ports and airports;Javid refused the request.[ citation needed ]
Atkinson did not stand in the 2019 European Parliament elections. [14]
Atkinson's political publications include:Migrant Crime Wave:The EU Cover Up Revealed, [15] Beyond Brussels:Brexit and The New European Patriotism and What Women Want versus The gender,transgender and cultural wars of the West.
In the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017,Atkinson called for the reintroduction of the death penalty for those convicted of terrorist crimes. [16]
On 1 March 2018 Atkinson was one of three UK MEPs who voted against a motion to encourage national parliaments to ban "gay conversion therapies". [17]
In August 2018 Atkinson called on Home Secretary Sajid Javid to fly the Union Jack at ports and airports;the request was refused. [18]
During the 2014 campaign it emerged that despite Atkinson's claims –and status as a champion of state selective education –her alma mater,Blackheath Bluecoat School,is not and has never been a grammar school. [19]
It was also reported that,before she joined UKIP,Atkinson was dropped from the 2011 alternative vote campaign following a meeting with undecided Conservatives in which she mentioned "her support for elements of" the British National Party's platform. [20] A few days later Atkinson swore at anti-racism campaigners. The incident followed her call for 'abusive' anti-UKIP protestors to be arrested by the police. A photo capturing the moment was widely reported and went viral on social media. [21] Atkinson,who has described towns in Kent as 'no-go areas' as a result of Eastern European immigration,has defended her position,claiming she marched as part of the Anti-Nazi League in her youth. [22]
In August 2014 she issued an apology after being recorded by a BBC News crew referring to the Thai (or Thai-born) wife of a constituent,who were both UKIP supporters,as "a ting-tong from somewhere",a term used in Thailand for people with mental health problems. [23] The woman and her husband threatened to withdraw from UKIP membership but changed their mind following a personal apology from UKIP leader Nigel Farage. [24] [25] Interviewed on camera later at their home,the woman and her husband said that Atkinson hadn't apologised to them and was quite belligerent. Whilst speaking of Atkinson,Farage said "99% of UKIP members aren't like that and don't hold those views". [24] Atkinson apologised [26] and explained in an interview shortly after that she never meant any malice and the unintended comment was taken out of context. [27] [ better source needed ]
In December 2014 it was revealed that Atkinson,whose annual salary as an MEP was around £79,000 per year,owed more than £2,000 in unpaid child support. [28] Her ex-husband claimed this had "caused major hardship for her son and for her family". [28] Atkinson was singled out for criticism as she had previously attacked "feckless families" who have more children than they can afford. [29]
On 19 March 2015 Atkinson was suspended from the party following "allegations of a serious financial nature". [4] The Sun published a secret recording in which Atkinson's chief of staff,Christine Hewitt,spoke to a staff member at a restaurant in Margate and asked them for a fraudulent invoice,inflating the bill to over three times the cost of the £950 meal. [30] [31] On the recording Hewett was heard to say "we overcharge them slightly,because that’s the way we repatriate it". [30] [31] The following day the police were reported to be investigating. [31]
On 23 March Atkinson was expelled from UKIP for "bringing the party into disrepute". [32] No legal action was taken against Atkinson, [33] but Hewitt pled guilty to fraud and was given a suspended sentence. [34] [35] Atkinson was cleared of all allegations by the Kent Police and no further action was taken against her. [8] [7]
Atkinson was previously married to Steve Small,with whom she had two sons. Small,who was granted custody of the children following their divorce,criticised Atkinson in 2014 for falling behind on her child support payments. She was taken to court twice by the Child Support Agency to force her to pay what she owed. [36]
Her current husband,Simon,is a banker. In March 2019,she revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils.[ citation needed ]
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 Nick Tenconi.
Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 2024,having previously been its leader from 2019 to 2021. He was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016. Farage served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 1999 until the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in 2020.
Gerard Joseph Batten is a British politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2018 to 2019. He was a founding member of the party in 1993,and served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London from 2004 to 2019.
Marta Andreasen is an Argentine-born Spanish accountant. She was employed in January 2002 by the European Commission as Chief Accountant,and raised concerns about flaws in the commission's accounting system which she felt left it vulnerable to potential fraud. Elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the 2009 election,she defected to the Conservative Party in February 2013. She lost her seat in the 2014 European Parliamentary election.
Jacqueline Foster,Baroness Foster of Oxton,is a British Conservative politician and a former Member of the European Parliament for the North West England region.
James Bruce Carver is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands region between 2014 and 2019. He was elected in 2014 for the UK Independence Party,second on the list for the region,being elected together with Jill Seymour and Bill Etheridge. He resigned from UKIP in May 2018.
Nicole Sinclaire is a British former politician who was leader of the We Demand a Referendum Party,and served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 2009 to 2014.
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).
Diane Martine James is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2014 to 2019. She was briefly leader-elect of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from September 2016 to October 2016,but resigned before formalising her leadership. At the time of her election to the European Parliament,James was one of three UKIP MEPs for South East England,before joining the Brexit Party in 2019.
Jane Maria Collins is a British politician and horse show-jumper who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019. She was elected in May 2014 as a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP),but defected to the Brexit Party in 2019 in the last months of her membership of the European Parliament.
On 5 June 2014,a by-election was held for the UK parliamentary constituency of Newark,following the resignation of Patrick Mercer. Conservative Robert Jenrick won the seat with a majority of 7,403.
Louise Bours,also known as Louise van de Bours,is a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the North West England region. She was elected in 2014 as a UK Independence Party candidate but resigned from the party 2018,and sat as an independent until she stood down at the 2019 election.
Nathan Lee Gill is a British former politician who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021,when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to January 2020.
David Adam Coburn is a Scottish politician and businessman who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Scotland from 2014 to 2019. A former member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP),Coburn was the leader of UKIP Scotland from July 2014 until December 2018.
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group that existed during the Seventh European Parliament,with significant changes to group membership.
The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election. It was held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019,after all the other EU countries had voted. This was the United Kingdom's final participation in a European Parliament election before leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020,and was also the last election to be held under the provisions of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 before its repeal under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and was the first European election in the United Kingdom to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections since 1999. This was the first of two national elections that would be held in the United Kingdom in 2019 with the 2019 general election being held six months later in December 2019.
The September 2016 UK Independence Party leadership election was triggered after Nigel Farage,the leader of the UK Independence Party,announced on 4 July 2016,following the Leave result in the UK referendum on EU membership,that he would step down when a new leader had been elected.
The November 2016 UK Independence Party leadership election took place following the announcement on 4 October 2016 by Diane James,the leader-elect of the UK Independence Party,that she would not accept the leadership of the party,despite winning the leadership election 18 days earlier. Nigel Farage,whom James was to succeed after the previous leadership election following his resignation,was selected the next day to serve as interim leader.
Alexandra Lesley Phillips is a British journalist,broadcaster,and former politician.
Back in 2011, before her defection to Ukip, she was one of the few Tories to back the Alternative Vote system in the referendum on electoral reform. At a meeting held at AV HQ with senior executives on the campaign, she was wheeled out to persuade fellow Tories who were as yet undecided. Cue sharp intakes of breath when she calmly explained that she was supporting AV in part because she knew that had she been able to pick up second preferences from BNP supporters by communicating to them her support for elements of their platform, she would have won her seat.