Roger Knapman

Roger Maurice Knapman (born 20 February 1944 in Crediton, Devon) is a British politician, and is the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

As a member of the Conservative Party, he was elected MP for Stroud in 1987. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the armed forces minister, Archie Hamilton. He resigned from this position in order to oppose the Maastricht Treaty. He successfully defended his seat in the 1992 general election. In 1995 he became a government whip. In 1997, however, he lost his seat to the Labour candidate, David Drew.

Shortly afterwards, Knapman left the Conservative party to join UKIP. He stood as their candidate in the 2001 general election for Devon North, coming fourth yet narrowly retaining his deposit.

From 2000, he was UKIP's political advisor, and in 2002 he was elected unopposed as party leader. In 2004 he was elected a Member of the European Parliament for the South West England region. As leader of the only British party in the European Parliament to vote against the expansion of the EU in 2004, there was some amusement in May 2006 when it was revealed that he had employed a team of Polish builders to renovate his Grade II listed home in Devon, claiming there were no suitable local workers - a claim denied by local builders. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2168653,00.html Anti-migrant party leader hires Poles - Times Online ] ]

He contested Totnes at the 2005 general election, coming 4th with 7.7% of the vote.

Before entering politics, Roger Knapman was a Chartered Surveyor. He is married with two children, and lives in Devon.

In 2006 it was revealed that, although publicly opposing immigration, he had been employing Polish workers at his home. [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article362721.ece Anti-immigrant UKIP leader hires Polish builders - UK Politics, UK - Independent.co.uk ] ] He announced in 2006 that he had no intention of seeking re-election as party leader; the leadership contest was won in September of that year by Nigel Farage MEP.

References

External links

* [http://www.rogerknapmanmep.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/view.do?country=GB&partNumber=1&zone=South+West&language=EN&id=28505 Profile at European Parliament website]