South East Euros
The South East European region covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. It currently returns 10 members of the European Parliament, the most of any UK region. In 2009 the region returned 4 Conservative MEPs, 2 UKIP MEPs, 2 Lib Dem MEPs, 1 Labour MEP and 1 Green MEP, unchanged from 2004.
Sitting MEPs and 2009 Results
1. | Dan Hannan (Conservative) | 812,288 (34.8%) | ||
2. | Nigel Farage (UKIP) | 440,002 (18.8%) | ||
3. | Richard Ashworth (Conservative) | (406,144) | ||
4. | Sharon Bowles (Liberal Democrat) | 330,340 (14.1%) | ||
5. | Caroline Lucas (Green) | 271,506 (11.6%) | ||
6. | Nirj Deva (Conservative) | (270,763) | ||
7. | Marta Andreasen (UKIP) | (220,001) | ||
8. | James Elles (Conservative) | (203,072) | ||
9. | Peter Skinner (Labour) | 192,592 (8.2%) | ||
10. | Catherine Bearder (Liberal Democrat) | (165,170) | ||
-. | BNP | 101,769 (4.4%) | ||
-. | English Democrats | 52,526 (2.2%) | ||
-. | CP-CPA | 35,712 (1.5%) | ||
-. | No2EU | 21,455 (0.9%) | ||
-. | Libertas | 16,767 (0.7%) | ||
-. | Socialist Labour | 15,484 (0.7%) | ||
-. | UK First | 15,261 (0.7%) | ||
-. | Jury Team | 14,172 (0.6%) | ||
-. | Peace Party | 9,534 (0.4%) | ||
-. | Roman Party, Ave! | 5,450 (0.2%) |
2004 Results
1. | Dan Hannan (Conservative) | 776,370 (35.2%) | ||
2. | Nigel Farage (UKIP) | 431,111 (19.5%) | ||
3. | Nirj Deva (Conservative) | (388,185) | ||
4. | Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat) | 338,342 (15.3%) | (Replaced by Sharon Bowles 2005) | |
5. | Peter Skinner (Labour) | 301,398 (13.7%) | ||
6. | James Elles (Conservative) | (258,790) | ||
7. | Ashley Mote (UKIP) | (215,556) | (Later expelled and sat as Independent) | |
8. | Richard Ashworth (Conservative) | (194,093) | ||
9. | Caroline Lucas (Green) | 173,351 (7.9%) | ||
10. | Emma Nicholson (Liberal Democrat) | (169,171) | ||
-. | BNP | 64,877 (2.9%) | ||
-. | Senior Citizens Party | 42,681 (1.9%) | ||
-. | English Democrats | 29,126 (1.3%) | ||
-. | Respect | 13,426 (0.9%) | ||
-. | Peace | 12,572 (0.6%) | ||
-. | CPA | 11,733 (0.5%) | ||
-. | Pro-Life | 6,579 (0.3%) | ||
-. | Philip Rhodes (Independent) | 6,571 (0.3%) |
2009 Candidates
1. | Peter Skinner. Sitting MEP. Born 1959, Oxford. Educated at St Josephs Secondary Modern, Orpington, and Bradford University. Former business and economics lecturer. MEP for West Kent 1994-1999. MEP for the South East since 1999. |
2. | Janet Sully. Runs a language business. West Sussex county councillor since 1997. Contested Horsham 2001. |
3. | Bob Fromant.Educated at Boundstone Comprehensive and Southall College of Technology. Licensed Aircraft Engineer at Gatwick. |
4. | Lisa Homan. Educated at King Alfreds Comprehensive and Surrey University. Caseworker for Keith Hill MP. Hammersmith and Fulham councillor. Contested Sutton and Cheam 2001. |
5. | Stephen Alambritis. Head of Public Affairs for the Federation of Small Businesses. Merton councillor. |
6. | Janet Keene. Educated at Brentwood County High and Brunel University. Former civil servant. Contested Bracknell 2001, 2005. |
7. | Munir Malik. Born Kenya. Educated at Wandsworth University. Chartered accountant. Bexley councillor 2002-2006. Contested London in 1999 European elections. |
8. | Silke Thomson-Pottebohm. Press and Communications Officer of the European Parliamentary Labour Party. |
9. | Rajinder Sandhu. |
10. | Sukhi Dhaliwal. |
1. | Dan Hannan. Sitting MEP. Born 1971, Peru. Educated at Marlborough College and Oxford University. Journalist and former speechwriter. MEP for South East England since 1999. He sits as a Conservative MEP, but outside the EPP-ED, having been expelled in 2008 for criticising Hans-Gert Pottering. In 2009 a speech he gave in the European Parliament criticising Gordon Brown was briefly the most viewed clip on YouTube, having been linked to by several US right wing blogs.. |
2. | Richard Ashworth. Sitting MEP. Born 1947, Folkestone. Educated at Kings School Canterbury and Searle-Hayne College. Dairy farmer. Contested North Devon 1997. MEP for South East England since 1999. |
3. | Nirj Deva. Sitting MEP. Born 1948, Sri Lanka. Educated at Loughborough University. MP for Brentford and Isleworth 1992-1997. MEP for South East England since 1999. Appointed Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Greater London in 1985. |
4. | James Elles. Sitting MEP. Born 1949, London. Educated at Edinburgh University. MEP for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 1984-1989, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire East 1994-1999, South East England since 1999. |
5. | Therese Coffey. Born Wigan. Educated at Oxford University. Former finance director. Contested Wrexham 2005. |
6. | Sarah Richardson. Educated at Durham University. Freelance journalist. Westminster councillor. Contested East Midlands 2004 European Elections. Contested Leicester West 2005. Married to Damian Collins, Conservative PPC for Folkestone and Hythe. |
7. | Richard Robinson. Educated at Salford University. Investment consultant. Former Rochester councillor. Contested South East England 2004. |
8. | Tony Devenish. Westminster councillor. Contested Houghton and Washington East 2001. |
9. | Niina Kaariniemi. Born Finland. Local government political officer. |
10. | Marc Brunel-Walker. Bracknell Forest councillor. |
1. | Sharon Bowles Sitting MEP. Born 1953, Oxford. Educated at Reading University. Patent attorney. Contested Aylesbury 1992, 1997. MEP for South East England since 2005, suceeding Chris Huhne upon his election to Parliament. |
2. | Catherine Bearder Born 1949. Educated at St Christophers, Letchworth. Former Cherwell councillor. Former Oxfordshire county councillor. Contested Banbury 1997, Henley 2001. Contested South-East region 1999, 2004. |
3. | Ben Abbotts Born 1975. Educated at University of Bristol. Public affairs consultant. Bromley councillor since 2006. Contested Sevenoaks 2005, Bromley and Chislehurst by-election 2006, Londonwide list 2008 London elections. |
4. | Jim Barnard Educated at Wells Cathedral school and Leeds University. Contested Tiverton and Honiton 1997, 2001. Contested Bristol 1994 European election. |
5. | Anthony Hook Born 1980. Educated at Dover Grammar School for Boys and UCL. Barrister. |
6. | Zoe Patrick Vale of White Horse councillor. Oxfordshire county councillor. |
7. | Gary Lawson Contested Portsmouth North 2005. |
8. | David Grace |
9. | John Vincent |
10. | James Walsh |
1. | Nigel Farage. Sitting MEP. born 1964, Farnborough. Educated at Dulwich College. Former commodity broker. A former Conservative he was a founder member of UKIP in 1993. Contested Itchen, Test and Avon in 1994 European election. Member of the European Parliament for South-East England since 1999. Contested Eastleigh by-election 1994, Salisbury 1997, Bexhill and Battle 2001, South Thanet 2005, Bromley and Chistlehurst 2006 by-election. Leader of UKIP since 2006. |
2. | Marta Andreasen. Born 1954, Argentina. Former EU chief accountant, fired in 2005 for criticising the EU’s accounting policies. |
3. | Steve Harris Born 1948. Former US Navy serviceman. |
4. | Phillip van der Elst Educated at Oxford University. Freelance writer, former editor of Freedom Today. |
5. | Harry Aldridge Born 1986. Wireless telecommunications entrepreneur. Will contest Horsham at next general election. |
6. | Christopher Browne Shift Process Controller at Thames Water. Contested Spelthorne 2005, Runnymede and Weybridge 2001. Will contest Spelthorne at the next general election. |
7. | Andrew Moncreiff Will contest Chichester at the next general election. |
8. | Mark Stroud Will contest Surrey Heath at the next general election. |
9. | Mahzar Manzoor Chartered accountant. |
10. | Ray Finch Engineer. Will contest Eastleigh at the next general election. |
1. | Caroline Lucas. Sitting MEP. Born 1960, Malvern. Educated at the University of Exter. Former communications officer and advisor for Oxfam. Oxfordshire county councillor 1993-1997. Green MEP for South East England since 1999. Principal Speaker for the Green party from 2003-2006. Will contest Brighton Pavilion at next election. |
2. | Keith Taylor. Born 1953, Southend. Brighton and Hove councillor since 1999. Contested Brighton Pavilion 2001, 2005. Principal speaker for the Green party 2004-2006. |
3. | Derek Wall. Economics lecturer and author. Contested Bath 1987, Bristol 1989 European elections, Windsor 2005. Principle speaker of the Green Party 2006-2008. |
4. | Miriam Kennet. Economist, author and lecturer at Birkbeck College. |
5. | Jason Kitcat. Brighton and Hove councillor. |
6. | Hazel Dawe. University lecturer. Contested Folkestone and Hythe 2005, Canterbury 2001, Thanet North 1992. Her husband Steve Dawe is also standing in the South East.. |
7. | Jonathan Essex. Former civil enginneer in Bangladesh. Runs a sustainable construction organisation and lectures for the Open University. |
8. | Matthew Ledbury. Educated at Oxford University. Environmental advisor and former journalist. Contested Tooting 2001. |
9. | Steve Dawe. University lecturer. Contested Canterbury 1987. Will contest Tunbridge Wells at next election. |
10. | Beverley Golden. Born Southampton. Lawyer. |
1. | Tim Rait. Contested South East in 2004 European elections, Maidenhead in 2005, Lothians Region in 2007 Scottish election, Henley by-election 2008. |
2. | Donna Bailey. Educated at Aston University. Beauty therapist.. |
3. | Mark Burke. |
4. | Andrew Emerson. Educated at Reading Blue Coat School. Lecturer. Former Labour party member. Contested Broxborne 2005. |
5. | Lynne Mozar. Born 1944, London. |
6. | David Little. Born 1948. Retired. |
7. | Peter Lane. Educated at Ardingly College and Royal Vetinary College. Retired vet. Contested South East Region 2004.. |
8. | Brian Horne. |
9. | Adam Champneys. Farmer and retired airline pilot. |
10. | Andy McBride. Born Berkshire. Joiner. |
1. | Steven Uncles. Born 1964, Blackheath. Educated at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. Business consultant. Contested South East region in 2004 European elections region. Contested Bromley and Chislehurst by-election 2006. Contested South Wales West 2007 Welsh elections. Contested Londonwide list in 2008 London elections. |
2. | David Knight. |
3. | Mike Tibby. Former Conservative councillor in Dartford, subsequently stood as a Liberal Democrat before being elected as the New England Party 2003-2007, which merged with the English Democrats in 2007. |
4. | Sean Varnham Student, studying law at the University of East London. |
5. | Clive Maltby |
6. | Lawrence Williams |
7. | Liz Painter |
8. | Gerald Lambourne Contested Wantage 2005. |
9. | John Griffiths Born 1947, London. Former civil servant, now an information officer. Contested City & East in London elections. |
10. | George Herbert |
1. | Nick Trew Born 1955, Devon. Educated at Millfield. Company director. |
2. | Nonie Bouverat Full time parent |
3. | Lyn Tofari Born Liverpool. Educated at Lawrence Road Secondary. Former estate agent. Former Independent South Bucks District councillor. |
4. | Geoff Howard Born 1947, Widnes. Former teacher. Slough Borough councillor 1995-2002 for the Labour party, 2002-2004, for UKIP 2004-2005. Contested Slough for UKIP in 2005. |
5. | Gerry Brierley Marketing consultant |
6. | Anat Vyas Born Kenya. Local authority housing officer. Contested Milton Keynes North East 2005 as an Independent. |
7. | Michael Guest Born Epsom. Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Educated at Oxford Brookes University. Former Epsom and Ewell councillor for the Epsom Residents Association. |
8. | Anthony Sansum Self employed service engineer. Former Dover councillor for the Labour party. Former leader of Dover council. |
9. | John Lenton Born Kent. HGV driver. |
1. | Dave Hill Professor. Former Brighton councillor and East Sussex County councillor. Contested Brighton Pavilion 1979, 1987 for Labour. |
2. | Garry Hassell Member of the RMT executive |
3. | Owen Morris Construction worker |
4. | Kevin Hayes Redundant Ford worker. |
5. | Gawain Little Teacher. Member of the CPB. |
6. | Robert Wilkinson Wokingham district secretary of the NUT. |
7. | Jacqui Berry President of Medway TUC. |
8. | Nick Chaffey Member of the Socialist Party |
9. | Nick Wright Graphic designer and teacher. Member of the CPB. |
10. | Sarah Wrack Sussex University student. Member of the Socialist Party |
1. | Derek Isaacs |
2. Paramjit Bahia | 3. John McLeod |
4. Ian Fyvle | 5. Patricia Rulz |
6. Richard Mooney | 7. Maureen Stubbings |
8. Derek Stubbings | 9. Mary Byrne |
10. Eleanor Little |
1. | Anthony May |
2. Peter Joyce | 3. Christabel Bacchus |
4. William Thompson | 5. David Ashton |
6. Alexander Wilson | 7. David Hews |
8. Deborah Smith-Gorick | 9. Je’ran Cherub |
10. Kenneth Scrimshaw |
1. | Kevin O’Connell Former Deputy Director of Europol |
2. | Daniel Hill |
3. | Neil Glass Educated at Fettes and Cambridge University. Former management consultant turned author and campaigner against government waste. Contested Haltemprice by-election 2008 as Independent. |
4. | Chloe Woodhead |
5. | Guy Lambert |
6. | Grahame Leon-Smith Contested Folkestone and Hythe 2005 for Senior Citizens Party. |
7. | Peter Grace |
8. | Nicholas Heather |
9. | David Peace |
1. | Petrina Holdsworth Former Chairman of UKIP. Contested Sussex Mid 2001, Folkestone and Hythe 2005 for UKIP. |
2. | John Petley Contested Lewes 2005 for UKIP. |
3. | Martin Maslam Contested Guildford 2005 for UKIP. |
4. | Jennifer Parsons |
1. | John Morris Born 1938, London. Contested Guildford 1997, 2001, 2005. |
2. Geoff Pay | 3. Jim Duggan |
4. Julie Roxburgh | 5. Keith Scott |
6. Shafaq Iqbal | 7. Jenny Watson |
8. Marcus Trower | 9. Jeff Bolam |
10. David Brown |
1. | Jean Louis Pascual Born France. Bus driver. |
Luke, from the County Council results in my part of the world, Canterbury, the increase in the Green vote is too big to have come entirely from disaffected Labour supporters, although it may look that way in terms of the swings in the Euroelection. You yourself suggest student Green support, which is in effect that party recuriting the new voters.
It would be interesting to have an analysis as to where in the South-East the swing to the Greens was strongest and where it was weakest, but I am not sure where I can find the necesary data on the internet.
Anthony, do your biographical details really mean that Steve Harris was an ex-United States serviceman? It could be far from irrelevant if Nigel Farage wins a UK seat in Buckingham and therefore has to be replaced for Strasbourg.
When a vacancy occurs for an MEP it is deplorable that there is not a by-election, if only to select an MEP from the Party concerned (as happens at present in the House of Lords for hereditary peers). In practice, for the smaller parties European elections are foughtly largely in terms of the profile of the candidate heading the list. So anybody can be put on the list lower down, with little consequence for voting behaviour. And times change in the five years lifetime of a European parliament. People in 2010 might not want the same person as in 2009.
I introduced this point in relation to UKIP, but it would also apply to the Greens if Caroline Lucas won Brighton Pavillion.
This point relates to vacancies for MEPs, but there is an associated issue that Closed Lists are deplorable because they do not allow voters to chose between individuals to represent them. E.g. now that Dan Hannan has made some controversial statements it is quite conceivable that there are voters who would like to vote for Conservatives like Richard Ashworth, but not Dan Hannan. And conversely there might well be non-Conservatives who would like to vote for Dan Hannan, but would not by so doing like to elect as more mainstream Tory further down the list.
“When a vacancy occurs for an MEP it is deplorable that there is not a by-election”
It may be deplorable, but the cost of a by-election across a region, particularly the South East, must be huge.
It depends how much one thinks having a democratic vote is worth I suppose. On a slightly different topic, it’s interesting that at one time candidates used to have to pay for everything associated with elections themselves, such as the cost of renting ballot boxes, voting booths, vote counting, etc, which wasn’t a great encouragement to ordinary people to stand as candidates.
If there were by-elections for the Ruropean Parliament, the EU’s budget, and the auditing thereof, would come into the public spotlight more often. I suspect the cost of a European by-election is far less than the savings that would accrue from greater electoral scrutiny of EU matters.
And it need hardly be said that the South-East Region EU seat is far too large, given that it is larger than, say Yorkshire and the North-East combined.
Yes, surely the regions should be equalised as much as possible just as parliamentary constituencies are. It’s not as if the regions are particularly sensible at the moment, with for example Banbury being part of the SE region whilst Rickmansworth is part of the Eastern region.
@Frederic Stansfield.
Steve Harris was born in the UK (Aldershot IIRC) and is a British citizen. He was partly educated in the USA and served three tours with the US Navy in Vietnam. He retired with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He has lived in the UK for many years.
Ray Finch.
UKIP SE EU candidate number 10.
Paul Waugh’s blog (Evening Standard):
“Dan Hannan quits his post as the Tories’ legal affairs spokesman in Strasbourg. He prefers to describe it as simply returning to the backbenches, so he can campaign for a referendum.”
Quote from Iain Dale’s site:
Farage Goes Ballistic Over Commons Ban
Iain Dale 4:31 PM
Nigel Farage has thrown his toys out of his pram, and accused the House of Commons authorities of being “fascistic”, after the Commons decided to withdraw Commons passes from serving MEPs.
Labour’s John Mann had tried to get Nick Griffin banned from holding a pass, but it was felt the only way this could be achieved was to withdraw passes from all MEPs. In an interview with talkSPORT’s Sean Dilley, Farage declared…
“It’s absolutely monstrous! Over the last ten years I’ve used my Palace of Westminster pass a lot. I’m here all the time and to be denied access to this place because a bunch of yobbos [in reference to the BNP] get 6.2% of the vote, because of the Government’s failed policies on immigration, is absolutely ludicrous. For goodness sake, we’ve had convicted murderers, we’ve had Sinn Fein IRA who’ve had passes to this place. I’m absolutely furious about it. Those that campaign most vociferously against fascism are nearly always fascistic in their own tendencies and always seek, like Peter Hain, to ban free speech. They’re not living on the same planet as the rest of us.”
The UKIP Leader slated his colleagues in the European Parliament for their apathy and failing to lobby the Westminster Parliament into returning the security passes to MEP’s. “They haven’t got the courage to do it,” he said. “Oh no, if we did that we’d be seen to be supporting the BNP.”
I have to say I have never quite understood why MEPs had passes to the building in the first place, so I can’t get as excited as Nigel Farage about this.