Margot Parker
{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Short description|British politician (born 1943)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Margot Parker
|honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%}}
| image =
|office = Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party & Spokesperson for Home Affairs
|leader = Gerard Batten
|predecessor = The Earl of Dartmouth (Deputy Chair)
Richard Bingley (Home Affairs)
|successor = Vacant
|term_start = 27 February 2018
|term_end = 15 April 2019
|office1 = Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party
|leader1 = Henry Bolton
|term_start1 = 18 October 2017
|term_end1 = 22 January 2018
|predecessor1 = Peter Whittle
|successor1 = Mike Hookem
|office2 = UKIP Spokesperson for Women and Equalities
|leader2 = Paul Nuttall
|term_start2 = 2 December 2016
|term_end2 = 18 October 2017
|predecessor2 = Office established
|successor2 = Star Anderton
|office3 = UKIP Spokesperson for Small Business
|leader3 = Nigel Farage
|term_start3 = 24 July 2014
|term_end3 = 1 December 2016
|predecessor3 = Office established
|successor3 = Ernie Warrender
|constituency_MP4 = East Midlands
|parliament4 = European
|term_start4 = 1 July 2014
|term_end4 = 1 July 2019{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/elections-press-kit/0/key-dates-ahead |publisher=European Parliament |accessdate=28 May 2019 |date=20 May 2017}}{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48365702 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=28 May 2019|date=22 May 2017}}
|predecessor4 = Derek Clark
|successor4 = Annunziata Rees-Mogg
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|7|24|df=y}}
|birth_place = Grantham, England, UK
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party =
|otherparty = {{Nowrap|Brexit Party (April – May 2019)
UK Independence Party (2010–2019)
Libertas (2009)}}
|alma_mater = De Montfort University
}}
Margaret Lucille Jeanne "Margot" Parker (born 24 July 1943) is a British former politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region between 2014 and 2019.{{cite web |title=Margot Parker: 8th parliamentary term |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/124945/MARGOT_PARKER/history/8 |website=www.europarl.europa.eu |publisher=European Parliament |accessdate=9 June 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609172713/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/124945/MARGOT_PARKER/history/8 |archivedate=9 June 2019 |location=Brussels |year=2019 |df=dmy-all |url-status=live}}
Early life
Margaret Lucille Jeanne Parker was born in Grantham. She was educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and De Montfort University, where she read Law.{{cite web |title=Nigel Farage reshuffle: Who are Ukip's women? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10990094/Nigel-Farage-reshuffle-Who-are-Ukips-women.html |website=The Telegraph |accessdate=1 December 2016}}
Career
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%).{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/d98.stm |title=2010 Election - Sherwood |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=3 January 2017}}
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.{{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |title=New Ukip leader Henry Bolton reveals frontbench lineup |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/18/new-ukip-leader-henry-bolton-reveals-frontbench-lineup-jane-collins-peter-whittle |work=The Guardian |accessdate=26 October 2017 |date=18 October 2017}} After Bolton refused to stand down following a vote of no confidence by UKIP's National Executive Committee, Parker resigned as deputy leader.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42770361 |title=UKIP deputy leader Margot Parker resigns over Henry Bolton |publisher=BBC News |date=22 January 2018 |accessdate=22 January 2018}}
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,{{cite web |url=https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2019/04/15/ukip-meps-quit-to-join-faragea-s-new-brexit-party/ |title=Ukip MEPs quit to join Farage's new Brexit Party - AOL |website=www.aol.co.uk |access-date=2019-04-15}} 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
{{reflist}}
External links
{{wikiquote}}
{{Brexit Party}}
{{UKIP}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Margot}}
Category:21st-century women MEPs for England
Category:Alumni of De Montfort University
Category:MEPs for England 2014–2019
Category:People educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School
Category:Right-wing populists in the United Kingdom
Category:UK Independence Party MEPs
Category:UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates
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