Piers Wauchope
Leader of the UK Independence Party
Interim
12 June 2019 – 10 August 2019
Preceded byGerard Batten
Succeeded byRichard Braine
Member of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
In office
8 May 2012 – 16 March 2015
ConstituencyRusthall
Member of Camden Borough Council
In office
2 May 2002 – 4 May 2006
ConstituencyBelsize
In office
7 May 1998 – 2 May 2002
ConstituencyAdelaide
Personal details
Born1956
Kent, England
Political partyUKIP (since 2010)
Other political
affiliations		Conservative Party (until 2010)

Piers Andrew Charles Wauchope[1] (born 1956)[2] is a British barrister and politician who served as interim leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) between June and August 2019.

Career

Previously a member of the Conservative Party, Wauchope was a councillor representing Adelaide and later Belsize wards in the London Borough of Camden from 1998 to 2006, having unsuccessfully stood in the wards of Holborn (in 1986) and Bloomsbury (in 1994). He served as leader of the Conservative Group, and of the opposition, on Camden Council from 2000 to 2006, replacing Pamela Chesters.[3] After leaving the Conservative Party, he joined UKIP and was elected to the NEC in 2015.[4]

Wauchope trained as a criminal barrister,[5] being called to the bar in 1985, and specialises in children's law, injunctions and domestic violence.[6] In 2010, he made the news after separating two brawling men during a court session at Snaresbrook Crown Court. Wauchope was unhurt in the scuffle, having only his glasses knocked off.[7] In 2015, he represented former UKIP parliamentary candidate Matthew Smith in an electoral fraud case.[8]

He was educated at Worth School and the University of Manchester.[9] In addition to authoring legal guides and contributing to journals, Wauchope has written a political history of the London Borough of Camden called Camden: A Political History 1964-2006, which the Camden New Journal described as "An intriguing, witty read......his retelling of power struggles and forgotten gossip sparkles".

In June 2019, he was appointed interim leader of UKIP, following the resignation of Gerard Batten.[10]

Electoral history

In the 2012 United Kingdom local elections, Wauchope ran as a UKIP candidate and won the Rusthall electoral ward seat on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.[11] He beat the incumbent Conservative councillor and council leader Bob Atwood by 46 votes.[12] He left the position on 16 April 2015.[13]

He stood to be the first police and crime commissioner for Kent in the 2012 elections, but was eliminated in the first round of voting.[14] He also stood unsuccessfully as a UKIP candidate in the 2016 London Assembly election[15] and the 2019 European Parliament election for the South East England seat.[16]

UK local elections
Election Constituency Party Votes % of votes Result
1986 United Kingdom local elections[17] Holborn Conservative 458 11.5 Not elected
1998 United Kingdom local elections[18] Adelaide Conservative 868 14.1 Elected
2002 United Kingdom local elections[1] Belsize Conservative 1,005 13.79 Elected
2006 United Kingdom local elections[19] Belsize Conservative 1,205 12.4 Not elected
2012 United Kingdom local elections[20] Rusthall UKIP 533 38.5 Elected
UK Parliament elections
Election Constituency Party Votes % of votes Result
2005 United Kingdom general election[21] Hampstead and Highgate Conservative 10,886 28.5 Not elected
2015 United Kingdom general election[22] North Thanet UKIP 12,097 25.7 Not elected
2017 United Kingdom general election[23] Dover UKIP 1,722 3.3 Not elected

References

  1. ^ a b "Camden Local Elections 2002. Votes/Percentages Cast For Every Candidate". www.camden.gov.uk. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  2. ^ ”Wauchope Piers A C / Thomas / Tonbridge / 5b 1109” in General Index to Births in England and Wales, 1956
  3. ^ Kidd, Patrick (13 June 2019). "Vital skills for a Ukip leader". The Times. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Arrivals, moves & departures: latest appointments in the civil service, politics and public affairs – November 23". Civil Service World. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Kent police election results". BBC News. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  6. ^ BSB. "Barrister Details - Mr Piers Andrew Charles Wauchope". www.barstandardsboard.org.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Piers Wauchope: barrister intervenes in court room brawl". The Telegraph. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  8. ^ "UKIP campaigner 'was panto Buttons'". BBC News. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Nationality, National Consciousness and Nationalism in Premodern Ireland", And so began the Irish Nation, Routledge, pp. 63–132, 9 March 2016, doi:10.4324/9781315564395-10, ISBN 978-1-315-56439-5, retrieved 29 May 2021
  10. ^ "Richard Braine elected as UKIP leader". BBC News. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  11. ^ "New leader for borough council". BBC News. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Council leader loses seat to UKIP". BBC News. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Councillor details - Councillor Piers Wauchope". democracy.tunbridgewells.gov.uk. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Independent voted first Kent PCC". BBC News. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  15. ^ "London Assembly elections: Who are the candidates?". Evening Standard. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  16. ^ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for the South East". BBC News. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Year Tables". Elections Centre. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Local Election Results 7th May 1998 - Camden Council". 11 June 2011. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Local election results 4 May 2006 - Camden Council". www.camden.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  20. ^ "English shire districts". Elections Centre. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Result: Hampstead & Highgate". BBC News.
  22. ^ "Thanet North parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Dover parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
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