Michelle Brown
{{short description|British politician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox AM
|honorific-prefix =
|name = Michelle Brown
|image = File:Michelle Brown AM.png
|imagesize = 250px
|alt =
|caption =
|office = Member of the Senedd
for North Wales
|assembly = Welsh
|majority =
|term_start = 5 May 2016
|term_end = 29 April 2021
|predecessor =
|successor =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|12|30|df=y}}
|birth_place = Mostyn, Wales
|death_date =
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|nationality =
|party = Independent (2019–present)
|otherparty = UK Independence Party {{small|(Until 2019)}}
|spouse =
|relations =
|children =
|residence =
|alma_mater = University of Staffordshire
|occupation =
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Michelle Margaret Freda Brown (born 30 December 1969) is a British lawyer and former politician who was a Member of the Senedd (MS) for North Wales from 2016 to 2021. In March 2019 she resigned from the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to become an independent.
Background
Michelle Brown grew up in Mostyn and was educated at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint, and at convents in Holywell and Holyhead.{{cite news|title=Welsh Election 2016: Labour just short as UKIP wins seats|work=BBC News |date=6 May 2016 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2016-wales-36207410|accessdate=6 May 2016}} She graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree in Law and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from University of Staffordshire.{{cite web|title=Michelle Brown|url=http://ukip.wales/candidate-profile/michelle-brown/|website=UKIP Wales|accessdate=6 May 2016}}
Political career
=Member of the Senedd=
At the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election, Brown ran as the UK Independence Party's candidate for Alyn and Deeside, finishing third with 3,765 votes (17.4%).{{cite news|title = Alyn and Deeside - Welsh Assembly constituency - Election 2016|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/wales-constituencies/W09000007|work = BBC News|access-date = 31 January 2025}}{{cite web|title = Election results for Alyn and Deeside, 6 May 2016 |url = https://business.senedd.wales/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=248|website = Senedd Cymru|access-date = 31 January 2025}} She was also the second-placed candidate on UKIP's list for the North Wales region, winning a seat alongside UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill.{{cite web|title = Election results for North Wales, 6 May 2016|url = https://business.senedd.wales/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=296|work = Senedd Cymru|access-date = 31 January 2025}}
Following her election to the Assembly, she voted for Neil Hamilton as leader of the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly and against Nathan Gill.{{cite news |last1=Shipton |first1=Martin |title=Civil war among Ukip's new AMs as Neil Hamilton ousts Nathan Gill |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/civil-war-among-ukips-new-11312039 |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=walesonline |date=11 May 2016}}
==2017 Controversies==
In February 2017 Future Inns, a hotel in Cardiff Bay, accused Brown of smoking "recreational drugs" in her hotel room. The hotel stated the room could not be used for 24 hours and issued a £250 bill to Brown for the cleaning cost.{{cite news |last=Williams |first=James |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-38756037 |title=UKIP AM Michelle Brown denies hotel's drug accusation |publisher=BBC News |date=1 February 2017 |accessdate=15 May 2019}}
In July 2017, a recording of a telephone conversation emerged, in which Brown was heard describing the Labour MP for Streatham, Chuka Umunna, as a "fucking coconut". The call, made in May 2016 to her then senior adviser Nigel Williams, was recorded clandestinely. Brown said her language was "inappropriate" and apologised, although also stating that she "was using language that friends and colleagues often do when chatting to each other". However, Brown stated that she stood by her comments that Umunna had "as much understanding of an ordinary black man's experience as I have". Brown was also recorded referring to Tristram Hunt, who was then Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central as a twat. Brown's comments were referred to the assembly's standards commissioner and Labour, Conservative, and Plaid Cymru members called for Brown to be sanctioned.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-40688367 |title=UKIP AM uses racial slur about Labour MP Chuka Umunna |publisher=BBC News |date=2017-07-22 |accessdate=2019-05-15}} Brown was suspended for a week without pay after an investigation by the assembly's standards committee, a decision which was criticised by Neil Hamilton, leader of the UKIP group in the assembly.{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Steven |title=Welsh assembly excludes Ukip member for racial term |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/02/ukip-michelle-brown-suspended-welsh-assembly-racial-abuse-chuka-umunna |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=2 May 2018}}
It was revealed in July 2017 that the UKIP branch in Delyn which was led by Nigel Williams whom Brown had suspended some weeks earlier for incompetence, had called for her de-selection, accusing her of "abrasive and discourteous" behaviour towards local members who Brown asserted she had never met. UKIP dismissed the letter as written by a "tiny and insignificant group" holding a "long standing grudge" against Ms Brown {{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-40656402 |title=UKIP members' bid to deselect AM Michelle Brown |publisher=BBC News |date=2017-07-20 |accessdate=2019-05-15}}
==Other activity==
In March 2018 she was chosen by the UKIP Assembly group over Hamilton's choice of Gareth Bennett to be their representative on the party National Executive Committee{{cite news |title=Brown replaces Bennett as UKIP AMs rep |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-43416430 |accessdate=16 May 2019 |agency=BBC News |date=15 March 2018}} and in May 2018 she backed Caroline Jones to replace Hamilton.{{cite news |title=Neil Hamilton out as UKIP assembly leader |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-44152343 |accessdate=16 May 2019 |agency=BBC News |date=17 May 2018}} Brown expressed regret at Jones leaving the group after Bennett won a ballot of party members intended to settle the group's leadership.{{cite news |last=Deans |first=David |title=Is Gareth Bennett happy Caroline Jones has left UKIP? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-45498535 |accessdate=16 May 2019 |agency=BBC News |date=12 September 2018}}
==Resignation from UKIP==
In March 2019 Brown resigned from UKIP to become an independent AM, accusing the UKIP group of sexism.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-47705175|title=Another UKIP AM resigns from party|last=Deans|first=David|date=2019-03-26|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2019-03-28|language=en-GB}} According to Wales Online, Brown was told she would not be welcome in the Brexit Party when it formed a Welsh Assembly group in May 2019,{{cite news |last1=Shipton |first1=Martin |title=Four Welsh Assembly Members in talks to join the Brexit Party |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/nigel-farage-brexit-party-politics-16261383 |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=walesonline |agency=Wales Online |date=11 May 2019}} an accusation Brown has called "fake news" as she states she never asked to join.{{Cite web|url=http://michellebrown.wales/alert-fake-news-about-me/|title=ALERT! FAKE NEWS ABOUT ME - Michelle Brown|website=michellebrown.wales|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-23}}
In the 2021 Senedd election, Brown stood for re-election as an Independent candidate on the North Wales list vote,{{cite web |last=Wyn-Williams |first=Gareth |date=2021-05-06 |title=North Wales election candidate cut from tens of thousands of ballot papers |url=https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-election-candidate-cut-20540030 |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=North Wales Live |language=en}} but was unsuccessful, getting only 0.2% of the vote.{{cite web | url=https://nation.cymru/news/live-blog-all-the-build-up-and-results-from-the-2021-senedd-election/ | title=Live blog: All the build up and results from the 2021 Senedd election | date=7 May 2021 }}
References
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{{succession box
| title = Member of the Senedd for North Wales
| before = Janet Haworth
| after = Carolyn Thomas
}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Michelle}}
Category:Female members of the Senedd
Category:People educated at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint