Nikki Sinclaire

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"She has also proved unable to collaborate adequately with the voluntary party in the UK, particularly with the regional committee in the West Midlands. The national executive committee has therefore removed the whip; Nikki Sinclaire may no longer describe herself as a UKIP MEP, and she may not stand as a UKIP candidate in the forthcoming general election." [15]

Sinclaire won an Employment Tribunal claim for sex discrimination against her former colleagues. UKIP did not lodge a defence, so the tribunal's decision went against the party by default. [16]

Independent

After UKIP

Sinclaire stood in the 2010 general election in Meriden. She used the label 'Solihull and Meriden Residents Association', and was endorsed by the Libertarian Party. Amongst her opponents was a candidate endorsed by UKIP. [17] She won 1.3% of the vote, compared with 2.6% for the UKIP candidate. [18]

Delegation to Tunisia

Sinclaire was the only UK politician to be chosen to fly to Tunisia in early February 2011, as part of an international delegation following the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. [19]

Campaign for a referendum

Sinclaire launched a campaign for a referendum [20] in July 2010, with the aim of collecting 100,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Union.

The campaign's first roadshow was held in Stoke-on-Trent on 29 July 2010 [21] and visited over 50 towns and cities in the West Midlands alone.

Alongside her weekly road shows, Campaign for a Referendum created a 'People's Petition' [22] magazine which is in its fourth issue. The magazine gathered cross party support.

Taking the petition to Parliament

Sinclaire announced that the petition had collected the necessary 100,000 signatures on 9 August 2011. The signatures were officially delivered to Downing Street on 8 September 2011. [23] Sinclaire was joined by MEPs Mike Nattrass and Trevor Colman, along with MPs Kate Hoey, Nigel Dodds and Kelvin Hopkins.

Campaign for a Referendum went to Manchester for the 2011 Conservative Party conference. Whilst at the conference, she spoke to Prime Minister David Cameron. [24] When asked about the subject, Mr Cameron acknowledged that the petition had been delivered.

A date for the debate in commons on this issue was set for 27 October, [25] which was then changed to 24 October, [26] allowing for the Prime Minister and William Hague to attend.

The motion on a referendum was defeated, but the result caused the largest rebellion against a Conservative Prime Minister over Europe. 79 Conservative MPs voted for the motion, with a further two Conservative abstentions and two acting as tellers for the motion. 19 Labour MPs defied the party whip, alongside one Liberal Democrat. [27]

Despite the defeat in Parliament, the Birmingham Post reported that she planned to continue the fight of a referendum [28] and on 31 October 2011, Sinclaire launched the second phase of the petition, which called for a referendum on whether to negotiate the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. A second petition with 100,000 names was delivered to 10 Downing Street in September 2012. [29]

Campaigning against Irish fiscal treaty

Sinclaire and a “posse of 20 followers” travelled to Ireland distributing anti-treaty leaflets. The presence of Sinclaire and Nigel Farage was reported by journalist Karen Coleman as about their own "anti-EU agendas" which had "little to do with what's best for Ireland". [30]

Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme

Sinclaire enrolled onto the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme in October 2009. [31]

As a part of this scheme she visited Afghanistan in November 2011, where she was alarmed to speak to troops who worried about how their families were being looked after at home in the UK. [32]

Football in the community

Sinclaire sponsored 13 players during the 2011–12 season from teams across her constituency, [33] ranging from the Conference North to the Premier League. Sinclaire is also a fanatical Liverpool fan and season ticket holder.

Sinclaire sponsored and distributed a leaflet in August 2012, for Worcester City Football Club [34] to help promote their final season at their St George's Lane ground.

Meriden travellers

Sinclaire has worked alongside local residents group RAID [35] in protesting against an unauthorised gypsy camp on the Eaves Green Lane site in Meriden, West Midlands.

The Travellers on the Eaves Green Lane site were told they would have to leave [36] and were given a year to move on by Solihull Council in a court hearing in May 2012. [37]

HS2

Sinclaire is an active campaigner against the HS2 project [38] which aims to link Birmingham and London by High Speed Rail.

The Birmingham Post featured her argument with the council about the removal of her anti-HS2 signs. [39]

Aston Arena

She has protested to save the Aston Arena, a sport centre based in Aston Birmingham. She delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street with a local charity calling for the Government to save the sports centre. [40]

Sinclaire also led a protest at Birmingham Council house against the demolition of the sports facility. [41]

We Demand a Referendum Party

Sinclaire founded the We Demand a Referendum Party in September 2012, with which she planned to contest all British constituencies in the 2014 EU elections. However, the party's only candidates were in her West Midlands European constituency. Sinclaire spoke at the We Demand a Referendum inaugural conference on 5 October 2012. [42]

United States elections of 2012

Sinclaire campaigned before the United States elections of 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. Sinclaire supported Tim Kaine in his successful bid to become a US Senator representing Virginia.[ citation needed ] Sinclaire also canvassed in support of Barack Obama's re-election to the US Presidency. [43]

Kashmir

Sinclaire sponsored the 8th annual Kashmir week in the European Parliament in June 2013. Sinclaire spoke in a press conference [44] supporting the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people has said that she will continue to bring the Kashmiri issue to the political agenda of the European Union (EU).

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013

Sinclaire announced her one-off Edinburgh Fringe Show on 13 August 2013. [45] The show, called "The EU – It's not funny" is a political satire. [46]

Allegations of fraud, misconduct

On 22 February 2012, Sinclaire was arrested along with three other people; two women aged 55 and 39, as well as a 19-year-old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud the European Parliament following an inquiry into an allegation made in 2010, concerning allowances and expenses. [47] [48] Sinclaire denied all the charges, cooperated with the police, and while the investigation was in process would only state that it was tied to a disgruntled employee who was themselves the subject of a similar investigation. [47] On 23 July 2014, she was charged with money laundering, contrary to Sections 327 or 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and misconduct in public office, contrary to Common Law, relating to European Parliament travel expenses, in a period between October 2009 and July 2010. [49]

In the Court case subsequent to Sinclaire's office manager John Ison having been cautioned by the judge that he was incriminating himself and when it was shown in open court that John Ison was colluding with Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, on 11 July 2016, the jury in Sinclaire's trial found her not guilty on all counts.

Sinclaire criticised the West Midlands Police investigation as a 'Vanity Case' as it cost £1.5 million to pursue the case regarding a sum of £3,200 that Sinclaire was alleged to have fraudulently claimed. [50]

Electoral history

Nikki Sinclaire
Nicole Sinclaire (cropped).JPG
Sinclaire in 2014
Leader of We Demand a Referendum Now
In office
September 2012 –30 June 2014
YearConstituencyPartyVotes %±%
2001 Medway UKIP 9582.5+1.6
2005 Halesowen and Rowley Regis UKIP 1,9744.8+2.4
2009 (European) West Midlands UKIP 300,47121.3+3.8
2010 Meriden Solihull and Meriden Residents' Association6581.3New party
2014 (European) West Midlands We Demand a Referendum Now 23,4260.14New party

Personal life

Sinclaire was assigned male at birth, but felt she was "trapped in the wrong body" from the age of three. At 16, Sinclaire was told by a doctor that these feelings were a "fantasy"; [51] she was also told that she could not undergo gender reassignment surgery until the age of 21. [52] Sinclaire took hormone replacement therapy, [52] [53] prior to beginning surgery at the age of 23. [51] Sinclaire publicly spoke about her gender identity in November 2013, [52] making her the first openly transgender Parliamentarian in the UK. [54]

In 2004, Sinclaire came out as lesbian in a letter to the LGBT newspaper The Pink Paper . [55] However, she stated that she had no desire to be the leader of an LGBT group within UKIP. [55]

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References

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  29. ↑ Elkes, Neil (18 September 2012). "West Midlands MEP Nikki Sinclaire launches new anti-EU party". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 22 December 2020.[ permanent dead link ]
  30. ↑ Coleman, Karen. "Beware of No campaigners with agendas of their own". Irish Independent. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  31. ↑ "Latest News – Nikki to join the RAF". YourMep.org. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  32. ↑ "Troops fear that Afghan role is not appreciated". Worcester News. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  33. ↑ "Local MEP backing Brewers Blanchett". Burton Albion FC. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  34. ↑ Carley, Steve. "Watch club play before big move". www.worcesternews.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  35. ↑ "MEP Nikki Sinclaire speaks out to defend rights of residents and greenbelt in Meriden". Meriden RAID. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  36. ↑ "Travellers lose high court battle to remain in Meriden". Coventry Telegraph.
  37. ↑ Willmott, Chris. "Meriden travellers have one year to leave". Solihull Observer. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013.
  38. ↑ "Her views on HS2". YourMep.org.
  39. ↑ "MEP Nikki Sinclaire has anti-HS2 banners removed by Birmingham City Council". Birmingham Post. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  40. ↑ "Nikki Sinclaire discusses Aston Arena on BBC Radio WM". BBC Radio WM. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
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  43. ↑ Goldberg, Adrian. "Nikki Sinclaire MEP talk to Adrian Goldberg about campaigning in America". BBC WM Radio Show. BBC WM. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  44. ↑ "ICHR hosts Kashmir week in Parliament". Kashmir Media Office. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
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  46. ↑ "Nikki Sinclaire MEP Edinburgh Fringe Show Official Website". Archived from the original on 12 October 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  47. 1 2 "MEP Nikki Sinclaire held in European Parliament fraud probe". BBC News. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
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  49. ↑ "Ex-MEP Nicole Sinclaire charged with money laundering and misconduct in public office". CPS News Brief. Crown Prosecution Service. 23 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  50. ↑ "Nikki Sinclaire cleared: Expenses probe was 'vanity' case". BBC News. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  51. 1 2 "Nikki Sinclaire: 'I have this thing about injustice'". BBC News. BBC. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  52. 1 2 3 "MEP Nikki Sinclaire reveals she had a sex change at the age of 23". Metro. 17 November 2013.
  53. ↑ Stevenson, Chris (17 November 2013). "MEP Nikki Sinclaire 'overwhelmed' by support as UK's first 'sex-change parliamentarian'". The Independent.
  54. ↑ Day, Aaron. "Former UKIP MEP reveals she is the UK's first transgender Parliamentarian". Pink News.17 November 2013
  55. 1 2 Foggo, Daniel (29 August 2004). "I won't be your leader, 6ft 4in lesbian tells UKIP's gay members". The Daily Telegraph. London. ISSN   9976-1874 . Retrieved 1 July 2012.
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