Robin Page (journalist)

Robin Page (born May 1943) is an English farmer, conservationist and political activist, who has worked as a journalist and television presenter. His work focuses on rural affairs. Page is the co-founder and chairman of the Countryside Restoration Trust,[1] which promotes a "living" countryside including wildlife-friendly farming. Born in Barton, Cambridgeshire, where to this day Page farms the land on which he was born, when not striving to build up the work & services to conservation of The Countryside Restoration Trust, which he founded over 25 years ago and has built into a nation wide chain of small farms all considering the best principles of conservation of land, wildlife and farming.

Media work

Page is an author with numerous books on the countryside and country life in print, many of which have been serialised in the National Press and media. Until 2016 he wrote a long-running column for the Daily Telegraph.[1] In the 1990s he presented One Man and His Dog, a television show featuring sheepdog trials.[2] His views about conservation are sometimes controversial, for example his call for blanket protection to be removed from birds of prey, the population of which is unnaturally high, causing excessive destruction of many songbirds and other prey. According to BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham, an article by Page about raptors was "an idiotic, ill informed rant" by someone with "no qualified understanding of even basic ecology".[3]

Political career

Page was elected to South Cambridgeshire District Council as an independent in 1972, holding his seat until he resigned in 2006. He stood as the Conservative Party candidate in Bethnal Green and Bow at the 1979 general election, finishing in third place.

He stood, as a EUroRealist campaigning for Britain to Leave The EU, in South Cambridgeshire for the Referendum Party in 1997, then joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP), standing in the Winchester by-election later the same year, and again in South Cambridgeshire at the 2005 general election.[4]

Page resigned from UKIP after not being selected as a party candidate for the East of England constituency at the 2009 European Elections, Page claimed that the party's MEPs were part of a "gravy train", and that leader Nigel Farage dominated the party excessively.[5] He joined the UK First Party, and was the lead candidate on their list in the East of England.[2]

In the 2010 general election he stood for a third time in South Cambridgeshire, as an independent.[6]

Allegations of racism

In 2002, Page was arrested, based upon false allegations of inciting racial hatred in a speech he gave at a fair in Gloucestershire, but was later released as police were of the opinion that no crime had been committed. Page claimed that he was framed by Gloucestershire Police.[7] In 2008 Gloucestershire Police made a four-figure payment to Page for his wrongful arrest, conceding and compensating him for his complaint.[8]

In 2016 Page again attracted controversy by making remarks (which he dismissed as a joke) about deceiving immigrants into taking contraceptive drugs.[1]

Elections contested
Date of electionConstituencyPartyVotes%
1979Bethnal Green and BowConservative5,56719.5
1997South CambridgeshireReferendum Party3,3006.1
1997 Winchester by-electionWinchesterUK Independence Party (UKIP)5211.0
2005South CambridgeshireUK Independence Party (UKIP)1,5563.0
2009 European ElectionEast of EnglandUK First Party38,1852.4
2010South CambridgeshireIndependent1,9683.3

References
  1. Hurrell, Stephen. "Robin Page sacked by The Telegraph, says country people are 'Britain's most endangered minority'". Cambridgeshire Live. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. Elliot, Chris (14 April 2009). "Page to stand for Euro Parliament". Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. Mathiesen, Karl (12 May 2015). "Should we drop protections for birds of prey?". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  4. "East of England Euros", UK Polling Report
  5. Waterfield, Bruno (1 March 2009). "Ukip has been corrupted says Robin Page". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. "South Cambridgeshire Candidates" Archived 6 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Shooting Politics, episode 4, 30th September 2009". fieldsportschannel.tv. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  8. Stokes, Paul (15 January 2008). "Robin Page compensated over 'race' arrest". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
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