Giles Chichester (born 29 July 1946) is a British politician, and Conservative
Member of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is the English name for a person who has been elected to the European Parliament, one of the European Union's two legislative bodies. MEPs are the European Union's equivalents of a country's national legislators in either the lower house or unicameral...
for
South West England and GibraltarSouth West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.- Boundaries :...
.
Chichester was born in London. Since 1969 worked in family business Francis Chichester Ltd (publishers of maps, guides and educational wallcharts), founded by his father Sir Francis Chichester KBE.
He was MEP for
Devon and East PlymouthDevon and East Plymouth was a European Parliament constituency covering all of Devon in England, with the exception of the city of Plymouth. It was created in 1994 to replace the majority of Devon and a small part of Cornwall and Plymouth....
from 1994 to 1999 and has represented South West England in the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
since 1999.
Giles Chichester (born 29 July 1946) is a British politician, and Conservative
Member of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is the English name for a person who has been elected to the European Parliament, one of the European Union's two legislative bodies. MEPs are the European Union's equivalents of a country's national legislators in either the lower house or unicameral...
for
South West England and GibraltarSouth West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.- Boundaries :...
.
Chichester was born in London. Since 1969 worked in family business Francis Chichester Ltd (publishers of maps, guides and educational wallcharts), founded by his father Sir Francis Chichester KBE.
He was MEP for
Devon and East PlymouthDevon and East Plymouth was a European Parliament constituency covering all of Devon in England, with the exception of the city of Plymouth. It was created in 1994 to replace the majority of Devon and a small part of Cornwall and Plymouth....
from 1994 to 1999 and has represented South West England in the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
since 1999. On 23 July 2004 he was elected chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.
He is a former Chairman of the
Carlton ClubThe Carlton Club is a gentlemen's club in London which describes itself as the "oldest, most elite, and most important of all Conservative clubs."-History:...
Political Committee and is chairman of his family business publishing maps.
On 5 June 2008, Chichester stepped down as Leader of the Conservative MEPs, after it was alleged that since 1996 he had wrongly sent European parliamentary funds for secretarial and office services through his family business of which he was a paid director. He insists the contract was accepted by the EU Parliament 1999 and in 2004, he transferred money for his political staff through the company as an easier means of administration. The European Parliament suggested that a change in the Financial Regulation in 2003 meant this arrangement constituted a potential conflict of interest.
David CameronDavid William Donald Cameron is the leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom. He has occupied both positions since December 2005....
did not withdraw the party whip from him as he did with the former Conservative MP
Derek ConwayDerek Leslie Conway TD is an English politician, and Member of Parliament for the constituency of Old Bexley and Sidcup....
who now sits as an Independent. Chichester remained as a Conservative MEP but not their leader and was replaced by his deputy,
Philip Bushill-MatthewsPhilip Bushill-Matthews is a British politician and Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands with the Conservative Party, part of the European Democrats and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.He is a substitute for the Committee on Foreign...
. The revelation came while as Leader of the Conservative MEPs Cameron had tasked Chichester to review and compile a code of conduct for Conservative MEPs' expenses after the embarrassment of Derek Conway. However, Chichester admitted he had been told the contract was not in order so he cancelled it immediately and described it as a "whoopsy-daisy" surprise to him. In September 2008 after a painstakingly detailed audit process by the European Parliament authorities Chichester received a letter from the Secretary General which cleared him of any conflict of interest, confirmed that all funds had been applied to the purpose intended and that he had received no personal benefit.
Offices Held
External links