Jeffrey Titford
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey William Titford is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 politician who served as leader of the UK Independence Party from 2000 until 2002. He served again as interim leader in September to November 2010 following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch
Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch is a British businessman and the former leader of the UK Independence Party . He is a member of the House of Lords.-Biography:...

. He is also a former Member of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 (MEP) for the East of England
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...

.

He had been at various times a member of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 (for whom he was a local councillor), the New Britain Party
New Britain Party
New Britain was a minor British right wing political party founded by Dennis Delderfield in 1976. The party was de-registered in November 2008.-Founding:...

 and the Referendum Party
Referendum Party
The Referendum Party was a Euro-sceptic, single issue party in the United Kingdom formed by Sir James Goldsmith to fight the 1997 General Election. The party called for a referendum on aspects of the UK's relationship with the European Union.-Policy:...

. He was the most successful Referendum Party candidate in the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...

, winning nearly 10 percent of the vote in Harwich
Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Harwich was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Until its abolition for the 2010 general election it elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

. However, later that year he joined the UKIP.

In 1999, Titford became one of the first UKIP representatives to win a seat in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

. In 2000, UKIP's then leader, Michael Holmes
Michael Holmes (politician)
Michael Holmes is a former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party and MEP for South West England.Holmes was elected leader of UKIP in 1997. In 1999 he and two other UKIP candidates were elected to the European Parliament. The following year, he stepped down from the leadership as a result...

, MEP, resigned amidst serious infighting. Jeffrey Titford narrowly won the ensuing leadership election, promising to reunite the party and restore its effectiveness as a campaigning organisation. This he largely succeeded in doing. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

newspaper described him in 2001 as "an emollient man, a sort of Willie Whitelaw figure, and an ideal leader for such a fractious party". He led UKIP into the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

, in which it stood more than 420 candidates but failed to make any breakthroughs (although it did consolidate its position as the largest of the smaller parties). In October 2002, Titford stepped down as party leader to allow his successor time to lay out his strategy for the 2004 European Election. He also wanted to spend more time on political campaigns in the East of England, where he continued to be an active MEP. He was re-elected with a greatly increased share of the vote in the 2004 European elections. At this election, UKIP also returned a second MEP, Tom Wise
Tom Wise
Tom Wise was an Independent Member of the European Parliament for the East of England. A former police officer, he was elected in 2004 as a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party but later had the whip withdrawn when allegations of misuse of parliamentary expenses surfaced in The Sunday...

.

At the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, Titford again contested Harwich. He came fourth of six candidates and polled 2,314 votes, a share of 4.6%, losing his deposit. Titford stepped down from the European Parliament at the 2009 European Parliament Election
European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)
The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...

. He and Wise were succeeded as UKIP MEPs for the East of England by David Campbell-Bannerman
David Campbell-Bannerman
David Campbell Bannerman is a Member of the European Parliament for East of England for the Conservative Party, having sat for the United Kingdom Independence Party until 24 May 2011...

 and Stuart Agnew
Stuart Agnew
John Stuart Agnew is a Member of the European Parliament for the East of England region for the United Kingdom Independence Party. He was elected in 2009....

.

Titford is regarded by many in UKIP as the nearest the party has to an elder statesman. In October 2005, UKIP's leader Roger Knapman
Roger Knapman
Roger Maurice Knapman is a British politician and the former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party ....

 announced that he was appointing Titford as party chairman for an interim period.

Before entering politics he was a businessman. He was president of the National Association of Funeral Directors.

External links

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