Bill Etheridge
|
Cllr Bill Etheridge MEP |
|
|---|---|
| UKIP Defence Spokesperson | |
|
Assumed office 29 November 2016 |
|
| Leader | Paul Nuttall |
| Preceded by | Mike Hookem |
| Member of the European Parliament for West Midlands |
|
|
Assumed office 1 July 2014 |
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| Preceded by | Malcolm Harbour |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William Milroy Etheridge 18 March 1970 Wolverhampton |
| Political party | Conservative (2008–2011) |
| Alma mater | Wolverhampton Polytechnic |
William Milroy "Bill" Etheridge (born 18 March 1970) is a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands region for the UK Independence Party. He was elected in 2014.
Etheridge was educated at Parkfield High School, Wolverhampton Polytechnic (now Wolverhampton University) and Dudley College.
Etheridge was originally a member of the Conservative Party and unsuccessfully stood in local council elections after joining in 2008, but resigned in March 2011, after he and his wife Star were photographed posing with knitted Golliwogs on their Facebook profile pages, as part of the activities of the Campaign Against Political Correctness. Etheridge then joined UKIP.
Etheridge stood in the 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner elections for West Midlands Police. He finished fourth with 17,563 votes (7.37%).
In 2014, as well as being elected to European Parliament, Etheridge was also elected as a local councillor for the Sedgley ward on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, unseating a Conservative councillor in the process. His wife, Star, was also elected for UKIP in the Coseley East ward.
In August 2014, according to The Mail on Sunday, Etheridge praised Adolf Hitler during a public speaking seminar he gave to members of the UKIP youth wing. Etheridge commented positively about his speaking style, and said Hitler "achieved a great deal". According to Etheridge, he was "the most magnetic and forceful public speaker possibly in history" who "achieved a great deal". A spokesman for UKIP said: "Bill Etheridge gave a seminar on public speaking and highlighted great speakers of the past, like Churchill, Blair, Martin Luther King and Hitler as people whose style, not content could be studied". When contacted by The Independent on Sunday Etheridge acknowledged that "Hitler and the Nazis were monsters" and said "At no point did I endorse Hitler or anybody else".
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