Paul Nuttall

Paul Nuttall
MEP
Leader of the UK Independence Party
Assumed office
28 November 2016
Deputy Peter Whittle
Preceded by Nigel Farage (Acting)
Leader of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament
Assumed office
November 2015
Preceded by Roger Helmer
UKIP Spokesperson for Education, Life Skills and Training
In office
24 July 2014 – 17 September 2016
Leader Nigel Farage
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by David Kurten
Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party
In office
8 November 2010 – 16 September 2016
Leader Nigel Farage
Preceded by David Campbell Bannerman
Succeeded by Peter Whittle
Chair of the UK Independence Party
In office
8 September 2008 – 8 November 2010
Leader Nigel Farage
The Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Jeffrey Titford (Acting)
Preceded by John Whittaker
Succeeded by Steve Crowther
Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
Assumed office
14 July 2009
Preceded by John Whittaker
Personal details
Born Paul Andrew Nuttall
(1976-11-30) 30 November 1976
Bootle, England, UK
Political party UKIP (2004–present)
Conservative (Before 2004)
Alma mater North Lincolnshire College
Edge Hill University
Liverpool Hope University
University of Central Lancashire
Website Official website

Paul Andrew Nuttall MEP (born 30 November 1976) is a British politician and leader of the UK Independence Party.[1]

He is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England.

Early life

Born in Bootle in Merseyside, Nuttall was educated at Savio High School and completed his A-Levels at Hugh Baird College in Bootle.[2] He completed a Higher National Diploma in Sports Science at North Lincolnshire College, before studying History at Edge Hill University, graduating with a BA, and at Liverpool Hope University where he specialised in Edwardian politics and graduated with an MA. He received a Certificate in Education from the University of Central Lancashire, and lectured at Liverpool Hope University there between 2004 and 2006 after his graduation.[3] In 2004, Nuttall started working towards a PhD into the 'History of Conservatism in Liverpool', but did not complete it.[4][5] He is a practising Catholic.[6]

As a footballer, he was a member of Tranmere Rovers' youth squad in the early 1990s,[7][8] although he has refuted claims made in one of his own press releases that he had played professionally for the team.[4][9] In 2015, while appearing on BBC TV's Question Time, he stated that he was one of the survivors of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.[10]

Political life

Paul Nuttall grew up in Liverpool in the 1980s, at a time when the Labour Party's hard left Militant tendency was once prominent. Nuttall has called for a war against "cultural Marxists", who "have changed the way we speak and the way we think", adding: "They've made the downright nonsensical acceptable and common sense unacceptable or politically incorrect."[3]

Nuttall joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 2004 and formed its South Sefton Branch in 2005 to help the party to contest elections in north Merseyside.[11]

In 2008, Nuttall became founding secretary of Young Independence, UKIP's fledgling youth wing for under-35s, a position he held until Young Independence held its first internal elections at the 2009 UKIP Spring Conference having, in September 2008, been appointed Chairman of the UK Independence Party.[12]

Nuttall was found to place 736th out of 756 MEPs in terms of attendance in the European Parliament,[13] Nuttall defended his record in 2013, stating: "I have no interest sitting all day in Brussels committees enacting job-killing, democracy-destroying legislation inspired by the EU".[14]

He announced in July 2016 that he would not stand in the September 2016 UKIP leadership election following the resignation of Nigel Farage and that he would step down as Deputy Leader of the party.[15][16] In October 2016, Nuttall announced that he would run in the leadership election triggered when Diane James said that she would not become leader despite winning the leadership election.[17][18]

On 28 November 2016 he became leader of the UK Independence Party with 62.2% of the vote.[19]

Election history

Nuttall first stood for election as a Conservative candidate in the Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council election, 2002, where he finished second in the Derby ward, receiving 11.4% of the vote.[20][21]

Nuttall contested the parliamentary seat of Bootle for UKIP at the 2005 general election, polling 4.1% of the vote.[22]

At the 2008 local elections, Nuttall stood as a UKIP candidate for the Derby ward of Sefton Borough Council, achieving a 38% share of the vote, behind the Labour Party candidate whose party has held the seat since the Second World War.[23] In 2009, Nuttall led UKIP's North West list and was elected to the European Parliament. At the 2010 general election, he contested Bootle for a second time and came fourth, polling 6.1% of the vote.[24]

Following a High Court verdict declaring the 2010 general election result in Oldham East and Saddleworth null and void,[25] Nuttall was selected to contest the by-election held in January 2011. Labour's candidate Debbie Abrahams held the seat, while Nuttall came fourth and increased the UKIP vote share by almost two percentage points, retaining his deposit.[26]

In 2014, Nuttall was returned to the European Parliament at the European election and is currently one of two UKIP MEPs representing the constituency of North West England. In 2015, he once again contested Bootle, and came second behind Labour, with a 10.9% vote share.[27]

Political positions

Nuttall speaking in 2009

During his leadership bid in 2016, Nuttall pitched himself as the unity candidate and has made Suzanne Evans co-deputy chairwoman of the party and Patrick O'Flynn as his principal political advisers.[28] Nuttall has vowed to "replace the Labour Party in the next five years and become the patriotic party of the working people".[29]

Nuttall is a signatory to an e-petition calling for the reintroduction of the death penalty for convicted child and serial killers.[30]

Nuttall has called for the establishment of an English Parliament[31] and presented UKIP's new devolution policy at its annual conference at Eastbourne in September 2011.[32]

Nuttall favours a ban on wearing burqas in public places, citing the use of video surveillance and security as the primary reason for this stance,[33] as well as being opposed to the establishment of Sharia courts to operate alongside the UK Court system.[34] He has also accused the EU's migration laws as allowing for the "free movement of jihad".[3]

A climate change denier, Nuttall has argued for Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth to be banned from schools, calling it "a blatant piece of propaganda".[3] He has also accused the BBC of promoting "propaganda" on climate change.[35]

LGBT rights and abortion

In March 2015 Nuttall, a practising Catholic, stated that "Twelve per cent of Catholics have already indicated that they are going to vote, or have already voted, UKIP. On moral issues, we, more than any other political party, are more in line with Catholic thought. Whether it's on gender-choice abortion or same-sex marriage, we are absolutely 100 per cent behind the Catholic Church."[36]

Following a 2011 High Court ruling on the case of Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who refused a gay couple service in their guesthouse due to their Christian beliefs against homosexuality, Nuttall claimed the decision was a "good week for the PC brigade", saying that "What a complete joke. Aren't people allowed to live by their religious beliefs in the country anymore?"[35] Nuttall has also opposed Labour's plans to include LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education in schools in 2015, stating that "Rather than helping tackle problems of domestic violence and rape in future years, as given as another woolly reason for introduction, it is going to confuse and worry these little children".[37]

Nuttall suggested in October 2016 that the current time limit on abortion be cut down from 24 weeks to 12 weeks.[38] He has also criticised advertisments for abortion clinics, saying that "Advertising abortion trivialises what is in reality killing an unborn child and the potential psychological implications for the mother are well documented. Killers such as Ian Brady and Ian Huntley have their 'human rights' and did not face the death penalty for taking the lives of children. Who is to defend the unborn child faced with a death sentence?"[35]

British "Independence Day"

Nuttall is a supporter of observing a British Independence Day within the United Kingdom on the 23 June annually. On 28 April 2016 he directly addressed U.S. President Barack Obama, publicly stating; "Don't try to block our Independence day, Mr Obama".[39] On 23 June 2016, Nuttall said: "This is Independence Day!" with reference to the Brexit result being announced.[40]

Privatisation of the NHS

Nuttall has previously said in 2014 that "I would like to congratulate the coalition government for bringing a whiff of privatisation into the beleaguered National Health Service", and argued that "the very existence of the NHS stifles competition, and as competition drives quality and choice, innovation and improvements are restricted. Therefore, I believe, as long as the NHS is the 'sacred cow' of British politics, the longer the British people will suffer with a second rate health service."[35] He also previously called the NHS "a monolithic hangover from days gone by", adding that "fortunately shall I say, we are becoming an older population and quite frankly I would like to see more free market introduced into the health service."[35] He has subsequently backtracked on these claims, saying that he only wanted parts of the NHS to be privatised in order to "streamline" the service[35] and upon becoming party leader, Nuttall told Andrew Marr on the Sunday Politics that "Maybe at some point, in years to come within this century we'll have to have this debate [over NHS privatisation,] but it won't be under my leadership in UKIP".[41][42]

UKIP peerages

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Nuttall has said that it was "obscene and unfair" that no UKIP politician had been appointed to the House of Lords by the government. He has promised to hold inter-party talks with Theresa May on the issue, saying that, if peerages were given in proportion to vote count in the 2015 general election, UKIP should have 26 Lords.[43]

Vladimir Putin and the Syrian civil war

On foreign policy, Nuttall said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "is pretty much a nasty man"[44] and that he was "not a fan" of Putin's "reprehensible" persecution of Russian journalists.[19] However, Nuttall said that in "the Middle East, I think [Vladimir Putin] is generally getting it right ... We need to bring the conflict in Syria to an end as fast as possible."[44] Nuttall has also said Britain "got it wrong" in "helping the so-called rebels" in the Syrian civil war. Asked about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's barrel bombing of Syrian civilians, Nuttall said: "I wouldn't say we are some paragon of virtue when it comes to backing dictators" and that the Assad regime, which Russia is supporting militarily, is not "a threat to the globe in the way that Islamic terrorism is".[19]

Putin's actions in Syria and the Middle East have been criticised in Great Britain and internationally, with Priti Patel accusing Russia of "inhumanity" and causing a "deliberate humanitarian crisis" in the region[44] and the United Nations saying that "Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes".[45]

Donald Trump

He has also been supportive of the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, saying that Obama "quite frankly had no time for" Britain due to "his heritage with Kenya and imperialism". He added that "Now Trump is elected... It is quite good for Britain. He was a supporter of Brexit",[46] and that "Neither the Brexit vote nor the Trump victory was down to emotion rather than truth. They were down to the people realising the truth that the establishment was not acting in their best interests."[3]

Controversies

CV discrepancies

In 2016, the Mail on Sunday alleged that Nuttall had falsely claimed to hold a PhD in History from Liverpool Hope University and that he was a "professional footballer" for Tranmere Rovers. Nuttall said that both mistakes were the result of inaccuracies by press officers and researchers.[41][42]

Nicola Sturgeon comments

Paul Nuttall courted controversy on social media due to a tweet he made in the context of the Scottish National Party wishing to vote on foxhunting legislation which affected only England and Wales. Referencing the death of suffragette martyr Emily Davidson, Nuttall said that,

Tuesday is Emmeline Pankhurst Day, and whilst I am not going to throw myself in front of a horse to make my point about British democracy on this occasion, this is a vitally important constitutional matter and perhaps we should throw Sturgeon in front of a hunt horse as part of the commemorations.[47]

An SNP spokesperson said: "Even by UKIP's standards this is a deeply crass comment. Political debate should be conducted in a respectful manner ... On Emmeline Pankhurst Day [Nicola Sturgeon] will be in London make a strong, positive argument for a fairer economy."[47]

Media

Nuttall is one of UKIP's media spokespeople and frequently appears on national radio, including BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport. He has appeared several times on BBC One's Question Time and BBC Radio 4's Any Questions?.

As Deputy Chairman of UKIP, Paul Nuttall was mocked by left-wing comedian Stewart Lee as "Paul Nuttalls of UKIPs" in December 2013 (released in 2014 as part of his Comedy Vehicle), accusing Nuttall of xenophobia towards Bulgarian immigrants. The comedy routine became viral after Nuttall's election as party leader in 2016.[48][49]

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Nuttall elected as UKIP leader". BBC News. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  2. ↑ ‘NUTTALL, Paul’, Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2016
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Paul Nuttall: The new leader of UKIP
  4. 1 2 "It's nothing to do with me! Ukip leader Paul Nuttall blames a 'press officer' for 'fake CV' claims he has a PhD and played for Tranmere Rovers". The Daily Mail. 3 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Ukip leader Paul Nuttall denies issuing fake CV saying he had a PhD in history". The Independent. 4 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Wilkinson, Paul (March 4, 2015), "UKIP Deputy Leader Says Party 'In Line with Catholic Thought'", The Tablet, retrieved November 29, 2016
  7. ↑ "Bootle man becomes UK Independence Party chairman", Liverpool Echo, 8 September 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2016
  8. ↑ "History man holds key to the future", The Times, 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016
  9. ↑ Matthew Taylor (4 December 2016). "Ukip leader Paul Nuttall under fire over PhD claim and NHS". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "Paul Nuttall BBC Question Time". BBC. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "Radio 4 Programmes – Any Questions?, 12/02/2010". BBC. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Young new Chairman for UKIP – UK Independence Party". Ukip.org. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "UKIP hits back at claims its MEPs are 'laziest' in parliament". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Useless, toothless... we should pull out". Chronicle Online. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Belger, Tom (9 July 2016). "Here's why Paul Nuttall says he won't stand to be UKIP's leader - for now". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  16. ↑ "UKIP leadership: Paul Nuttall rules out bid to replace Nigel Farage". BBC News. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "Paul Nuttall And Suzanne Evans Announce Ukip Leadership Bids". The Huffington Post. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  18. ↑ "Suzanne Evans and Paul Nuttall both run for UKIP leadership". BBC News. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 Fisher, Lucy (28 November 2016). "Putin and Assad are on our side, claims new Ukip leader". The Times. (subscription required (help)).
  20. ↑ "Paul Nuttall: Bootle native who now leads Ukip". Liverpool Echo. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  21. ↑ "Election Results - 2002". Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 14 April 2003.
  22. ↑ "Election 2005 | Election Map". BBC News. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  23. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  24. ↑ "Election results for Bootle Parliamentary Constituency, 6 May 2010". Modgov.sefton.gov.uk. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  25. ↑ Polly Curtis (5 November 2010). "Phil Woolas ejected from parliament over election slurs". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  26. ↑ "Oldham East and Saddleworth". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  27. ↑ "Bootle". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  28. ↑ Fisher, Lucy (30 November 2016). "Farage's old foe gets seat at top table". The Times. (subscription required (help)).
  29. ↑ Chorley, Matt (28 November 2016). "Oppose migration or lose your seat, Labour MPs told". The Times. (subscription required (help)).
  30. ↑ "Euro man favours death penalty (from The Bolton News)". Theboltonnews.co.uk. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  31. ↑ West, Ed (18 October 2011). "Would an English Parliament save the Union? – Telegraph Blogs". Blogs.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  32. ↑ Wilby, Peter (30 May 2014). "It's time to challenge Ukip over its climate change denial". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  33. ↑ "Radio 4's Any Questions at Burnley raises burka issue". Lancashire Telegraph. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  34. ↑ "MEP speaks out against spread of Sharia courts".
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bloom, Dan (28 November 2016). "What Ukip leader Paul Nuttall thinks of NHS privatisation in his own words". The Daily Mirror.
  36. ↑ Wilkinson, Paul (4 March 2015). "Ukip deputy leader says party 'in line with Catholic thought'". The Tablet.
  37. ↑ Duffy, Nick (6 February 2015). "UKIP Deputy Leader: Labour's plans to tackle homophobia are 'a disgrace'". PinkNews.
  38. ↑ "Murnaghan Interview with Paul Nuttall MEP, UKIP leadership candidate, 30.10.16". sky.com. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  39. ↑ "Don't try to block our Independence day, Mr Obama". Paul Nuttall. 28 April 2016.
  40. ↑ "This is Independence Day!". Paul Nuttall. 23 June 2016.
  41. 1 2 Taylor, Matthew (4 December 2016). "Ukip leader Paul Nuttall under fire over PhD claim and NHS". The Guardian.
  42. 1 2 Geddes, Duncan (4 December 2016). "Ukip won't push to privatise NHS, says Nuttall". Sunday Times. Retrieved 4 December 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  43. ↑ Riley-Smith, Ben (26 November 2016). "Give Ukip 20 peerages, candidate poised to become party leader demands". The Telegraph.
  44. 1 2 3 Blanchard, Jack (20 November 2016). "UKIP leadership hopeful praises Vladimir Putin's merciless airstrikes on Syria". The Daily Mirror.
  45. ↑ Borger, Julian; Shaheen, Kareem (26 September 2016). "Russia accused of war crimes in Syria at UN security council session". The Guardian. Beirut.
  46. ↑ Engineer, Cyrus (22 November 2016). "Trump returning the Churchill bust to the Oval Office is a GREAT sign for Britain". The Daily Express.
  47. 1 2 Bennett, Owen (14 July 2015). "'Throw Nicola Sturgeon In Front Of A Horse' Says Ukip's Deputy Leader...No, Really". The Huffington Post. United Kingdom.
  48. ↑ Hooton, Christopher (28 November 2016). "Watch Stewart Lee's brilliant takedown of new UKIP leader Paul Nuttall from 2014". The Independent.
  49. ↑ Media Mole (28 November 2016). "Watch: Stewart Lee's hilarious take down of new Ukip leader Paul Nuttall from 2014". New Statesman.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Nuttall.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Paul Nuttall
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Whittaker		 Chair of the UK Independence Party
2008–2010 		Succeeded by
Steve Crowther
Preceded by
David Campbell Bannerman		 Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party
2010–2016 		Succeeded by
Peter Whittle
Preceded by
Nigel Farage
Acting		 Leader of the UK Independence Party
2016–present 		Incumbent
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