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. UKIP's visibility and success was chiefly associated with two-time leader Nigel Farage;since his second departure in 2016,the party has seen a steep decline in support and eleven different leaders,the most recent being Lois Perry who resigned after just 34 days. Following Perry’s resignation,the party has been led in the interim by Nick Tenconi since June 2024.
Nigel Paul Farage is a British politician and broadcaster who has been the leader of Reform UK since June 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.
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.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a political party in the United Kingdom,established in 1990. The current party traces its origin to the Social Democratic Party,which was formed in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) and former Cabinet members Roy Jenkins,David Owen,Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams,who became known as the Gang of Four. The original SDP merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats,but Owen,two other MPs and a minority of party activists formed a breakaway group also called the Social Democratic Party (1988–1990) immediately afterwards. That continuing party dissolved itself in the aftermath of a by-election in Bootle,in which the party's candidate received fewer votes than Screaming Lord Sutch's Official Monster Raving Loony Party. However,some SDP activists met and voted to continue the party in defiance of its National Executive,leading to the creation in 1990 of the current Social Democratic Party under the leadership of the candidate who lost that by-election. The party has been led since 2018 by William Clouston.
David Campbell Bannerman is a British 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 Conservative Democratic Organisation and The Freedom Association. A member of the Conservative Party,he previously served as Deputy Leader of UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 until 2010,when he was replaced by Paul Nuttall.
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.
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.
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,losing in each. 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 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.
The 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election was called following the resignation of Paul Nuttall as leader of the UK Independence Party on 9 June 2017,following the poor performance of the party in the 2017 general election. Former party chairman Steve Crowther was chosen three days later to serve as interim leader.
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in November 2018 as the Brexit Party,advocating a no-deal Brexit,it won the 2019 European Parliament election in the UK,but did not win any seats at the 2019 general election. The UK withdrew from the European Union (EU) in January 2020. A year later,in January 2021,the party was renamed Reform UK. During the COVID-19 pandemic the party advocated against further lockdowns. Since 2022,it has campaigned on a broader platform,in particular pledging to reduce net migration,supporting low taxation,and opposing the government's net-zero energy policy. Following Nigel Farage's resumption of the party leadership in early June during the 2024 general election campaign,opinion pollsters and analysts reported an increase in support for the party.
The 2019 UK Independence Party leadership election took place following the departure on 2 June of Gerard Batten from the leadership of the UK Independence Party. The result was announced on 10 August 2019,with Richard Braine being elected to lead the party. This was the party's fifth leadership election in three years. Braine resigned just two months later,triggering a sixth leadership election.
Alexandra Lesley Phillips is a British journalist and former politician. She served as a Brexit Party member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South East England constituency from 2019 to 2020. She was the second candidate on the party's list for the constituency after party leader Nigel Farage. Phillips was previously head of media at the UK Independence Party (UKIP),which she left in September 2016. She was a GB News presenter between June 2021 and September 2022. In February 2023,Phillips joined Reform UK.
Michael Eric Heaver is a British broadcaster and former politician. He was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England constituency in the 2019 European parliamentary election a role he remained in until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU. Previously,he was the chair of the UK Independence Party (UKIP)'s youth wing,Young Independence.
