Margot Parker

Margaret Lucille Jeanne Parker (born 24 July 1943) is an English politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region between 2014 and 2019.[3] She was born in Grantham and educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and De Montfort University, where she read Law.[4]

Margot Parker
Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party & Spokesperson for Home Affairs
In office 27 February 2018 – 15 April 2019
Leader	Gerard Batten
Preceded by	The Earl of Dartmouth (Deputy Chair) Richard Bingley (Home Affairs)
Succeeded by	Vacant
Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party
In office 18 October 2017 – 22 January 2018
Leader	Henry Bolton
Preceded by	Peter Whittle
Succeeded by	Mike Hookem
UKIP Spokesperson for Women and Equalities
In office 2 December 2016 – 18 October 2017
Leader	Paul Nuttall
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Star Anderton
UKIP Spokesperson for Small Business
In office 24 July 2014 – 1 December 2016
Leader	Nigel Farage
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Ernie Warrender
Member of the European Parliament for East Midlands
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019[1][2]
Preceded by	Derek Clark
Succeeded by	Annunziata Rees-Mogg
Personal details
Born	24 July 1943 Grantham, England, UK
Political party	UK Independence Party (2010–2019)
Other political affiliations	Brexit Party (April–May 2019)
Alma mater	De Montfort University

Parker stood as a candidate for Libertas in the 2009 European election in the East Midlands. She was second on the party list; the party won 0.6% of the vote and no seats.

By the following year she had defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP). She stood in Sherwood in the 2010 general election, finishing 5th (1,490 votes, 3%). In 2012, she stood in the Corby by-election, finishing third with 5,108 votes (14.3%).[5]

In 2014, Parker was nominated as the second candidate on the East Midlands list for UKIP in preparation for the 2014 European Parliament election. She was subsequently elected alongside Roger Helmer as a UKIP MEP for the East Midlands constituency.

Following the election of Henry Bolton as leader of UKIP in 2017, Parker was appointed deputy leader.[6] After Bolton refused to stand down following a vote of no confidence by UKIP's National Executive Committee, Parker resigned as deputy leader.[7]

During the leadership of Gerard Batten, Parker served as Home Affairs spokeswoman and Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party, but resigned her post and membership of the party in April 2019, defecting to the Brexit Party, alongside Jane Collins & Jill Seymour,[8] citing Batten's defence of Carl Benjamin's 2016 tweet saying he "wouldn't even rape" Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Despite her defection, Parker was not selected as a Brexit Party candidate for the 2019 European Parliament elections, and ceased to be a Member of the European Parliament on 26 May 2019.

References

1. "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
2. "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
3. "Margot Parker: 8th parliamentary term". www.europarl.europa.eu. Brussels: European Parliament. 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
4. "Nigel Farage reshuffle: Who are Ukip's women?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
5. "2010 Election - Sherwood". BBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
6. Walker, Peter (18 October 2017). "New Ukip leader Henry Bolton reveals frontbench lineup". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
7. "UKIP deputy leader Margot Parker resigns over Henry Bolton". BBC News. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
8. "Ukip MEPs quit to join Farage's new Brexit Party - AOL". www.aol.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2019.

External links

• Margot Parker on Twitter