Neil Hamilton (politician)
Mostyn Neil Hamilton (born 9 March 1949) is a British politician and former barrister who was leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2020 to 2024. He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1983 to 1997 and a UKIP Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales from 2016 to 2021.
Neil Hamilton
Lois Perry
Office created
Lois Perry
- Diane James
- Nigel Farage (acting)
- Paul Nuttall
- Steve Crowther (acting)
- Henry Bolton
- Gerard Batten
- Piers Wauchope (acting)
- Richard Braine
- Pat Mountain (acting)
- Freddy Vachha
- Himself
Stan Robinson
Office abolished
Office established
Office established
UK Independence Party (2002–present)
Conservative (1964–2002)
Aberystwyth University (BScEcon, MScEcon)
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (LL.M)[1]
Barrister
Hamilton was elected to the House of Commons in the 1983 general election. He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs by Prime Minister John Major in 1992.
In 1994, The Guardian alleged that Hamilton had taken cash payments in exchange for asking questions in Parliament. Hamilton sued The Guardian for libel, but settled on the day of the trial. The Guardian published a headline branding him "A Liar and a Cheat". The cash-for-questions affair enquiry in 1997 found that Hamilton had taken bribes. He subsequently lost a libel case on the matter. Hamilton became widely associated with sleaze,[2] and was forced to resign his ministerial role. He was defeated by an independent candidate, Martin Bell, in the 1997 general election.
Hamilton left the Conservative Party in 2002 and joined UKIP. In 2011, he returned to politics and was elected to the National Executive Committee of UKIP. Following his election to the National Assembly for Wales, he was UKIP Assembly Group Leader from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2021. He became leader of UKIP Wales in 2016. In September 2020, Hamilton was named acting leader of UKIP, following the suspension from the party of the previous leader, Freddy Vachha. Hamilton was defeated at the 2021 Senedd election. In October 2021, Hamilton was elected UKIP leader.[3]
Political career[edit]
Parliamentary career[edit]
On 12 March 1983, Hamilton was selected as the Conservative candidate for the newly created Tatton constituency. Three months later, at the 1983 general election Hamilton was elected to Parliament as MP for Tatton. On entering the Commons, Hamilton was appointed as an officer of the backbench committee on Trade and Industry under the chairmanship of Michael Grylls.[15]
Legal cases[edit]
BBC libel case (1984–1986)[edit]
On 30 January 1984, a Panorama programme, "Maggie's Militant Tendency", was broadcast. The programme made a number of allegations regarding Hamilton's past and more recent activities. These included his attending and giving a fraternal speech in 1972 to the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) an Italian neo-fascist party led by one of Benito Mussolini's ex-ministers, Giorgio Almirante,[63] Hamilton's membership of the Eldon League, and his involvement with the Powellite faction of the Monday Club and the far-right activist, George Kennedy Young, the former Deputy Director of MI6 and Chairman of the Society for Individual Freedom. The programme also made the claim that Hamilton gave a Nazi salute in Berlin while "messing around" on a parliamentary visit in August 1983. A Nazi salute is a criminal offence in the Federal Republic of Germany.[64] In October 1986, Hamilton and his fellow MP Gerald Howarth (one of his closest friends), sued the BBC for libel along with Phil Pedley, a former chairman of the National Young Conservatives, who had appeared on the programme.[65] The Guardian newspaper highlighted Hamilton's admission in The Sunday Times in an article he wrote after the court case that he did give "a little salute with two fingers to his nose to give the impression of a toothbrush moustache."[65]
The prosecution was financed by Sir James Goldsmith[66] and Taki, The Spectator columnist. David Davis, then a director of Tate and Lyle, persuaded that company to donate a sum to the cause. Lord Harris of High Cross (who helped to finance Hamilton's failed libel action against Mohammed Al-Fayed 13 years later), also raised approximately £100,000.[67]
During the case, Hamilton said he saw himself as being "the Mike Yarwood of the Federation of Conservative Students"[68] and that he frequently did impressions of public figures such as Frankie Howerd, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Charles De Gaulle and Enoch Powell. Hamilton said he had coloured himself black in 1982 to look like Idi Amin and dressed as Canon James Owen on a boat on the River Cam.[69] He said he would have twenty character witnesses: "My main character witness was going to be Norman St John Stevas."[70] In a Sunday Times article, Hamilton denied there was any malicious intent behind the salute. He also pointed out that one person present at the incident, Julian Lewis, was a Jew and that a "number of his relatives were killed by the Nazis during the war".[70]
Bankruptcy[edit]
On 22 May 2001, unable to pay his legal fees and with costs amounting to some £3m, Hamilton declared bankruptcy. He was discharged from bankruptcy in May 2004.
False rape accusation[edit]
On 10 August 2001, Hamilton and his wife, Christine, were arrested by police who were investigating an alleged rape. The Hamiltons said they could not have been present at the alleged rape scene because they were hosting a dinner party and produced alibis including one from Derek Laud.[111] The investigation against the couple was dropped when it became apparent that the accusations were entirely false. This event was recorded on film by Louis Theroux, who, at that time, was spending time with the Hamiltons for an episode of his documentary series When Louis Met....[112]
In June 2003, Nadine Milroy-Sloan, the woman responsible for the unfounded accusation, was sentenced to three years in jail for perverting the course of justice.[113] In February 2005, the publicist Max Clifford, who had acted for Milroy-Sloan, settled, paying Hamilton an undisclosed sum.[114]
In 2014, Milroy-Sloan, under her birth name Emily Checksfield, was jailed again for falsely claiming to police that her ex-partner had threatened to kill her with a Samurai sword.[115] The same year, Clifford was jailed for sexual assaults on under-age girls.[116] After Clifford died in prison in December 2017, he was described by Hamilton as a "monster".[117]
Television appearances[edit]
On 9 May 1997, Hamilton and his wife appeared on the current affairs satire quiz programme Have I Got News for You. The episode was recorded one week after Hamilton lost his seat. Angus Deayton, the presenter of the panel game, wore a white suit instead of his usual brown one. This was a humorous reference to Martin Bell, who wore just such a suit throughout the 1997 general election campaign. As a further taunt, at the end of the show, the Hamiltons were handed their "fee" in brown envelopes.[118] At one point Hamilton quipped: "I've found it's much better making political jokes than being one."[119]
On 30 March 2000, Hamilton appeared on Da Ali G Show on Channel 4, for a satirical comedic interview[120] when he was seen to be sharing what appeared to be a marijuana joint with the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's "Ali G" character.[121]
In 2001 Hamilton appeared on When Louis Met..., a documentary by Louis Theroux, during which he described himself and his wife as "professional objects of curiosity".[122]
Since then, the Hamiltons have appeared in pantomimes, television chat shows, and programmes such as The Weakest Link, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Ready Steady Cook.[123] He appeared on a celebrity edition of Mastermind on Boxing Day 2004. He appeared on stage in The Rocky Horror Show wearing six-inch stiletto heels, a basque, suspenders and stockings, however he declined to appear on "Big Brother" or "Celebrity Wife Swap."[123]
In 2005, Hamilton appeared on the Johnny Vegas show 18 Stone of Idiot, where he danced in a perspex box whilst Vegas and a member of the public poured buckets of fish over his head.[124][125]
Due to his television appearances, The Guardian described him as "an all-purpose Z-list celebrity".[125]
Political ideology[edit]
Hamilton argued for the individual's right to smoke. He was the only member in committee to oppose the Conservative government's bill to outlaw trafficking in human organs.[126] In April 1986, Hamilton was one of ten MPs to vote against the government on an EEC bill. Hamilton was a member of the "No Turning Back group", advocating Thatcherite policies.
In November 1989, Hamilton won the Spectator parliamentary wit of the year award. He jokingly remarked that when told of winning the award, he thought it was for being the "Twit of the year".[127]
Hamilton's comments are frequently controversial. During a debate about amputees he said that Frank Dobson "does not have a leg to stand on". (January 1987).[128] To Jeremy Corbyn, he suggested that "some of [his] IRA friends could be used to get rid of pensioners by shooting them"—also in 1987.[129]
Personal life[edit]
On 4 June 1983, five days before polling day in the 1983 general election, Hamilton married Mary Christine Holman, the secretary to Tory MP Michael Grylls,[130] in Cornwall. In September 2003, after having a residence in the Tatton constituency for twenty years, the Hamiltons moved to Hullavington, Wiltshire, where they purchased a home in October 2004. In 2006, they released a song coinciding with the World Cup, "England are Jolly Dee".[131]
In 1992, Hamilton suffered a broken nose when he defended Harvey Proctor during a homophobic attack in Proctor's shirtmaking shop. Two men were later imprisoned for the assault.[132]
Since 2008, he has been company secretary of Vixen Consultants Limited.[133] The trading name of Vixen Consultants is Christine Hamilton.[134]