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Peter Whittle (British politician)

Peter Whittle
AM
Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party
Assumed office
28 November 2016
Leader Paul Nuttall
Preceded by Paul Nuttall
UKIP Culture and Communities Spokesperson
Assumed office
24 July 2014
Leader Nigel Farage
Diane James
Paul Nuttall
Leader of the UK Independence Party in the London Assembly
Assumed office
6 May 2016
Leader Nigel Farage
Diane James
Paul Nuttall
Preceded by Position established
Member of the London Assembly
as the 5th Additional Member
Assumed office
6 May 2016
Preceded by Stephen Knight
Personal details
Born (1961-01-06) 6 January 1961 (age 56)
Peckham, England
Political party UK Independence Party
Alma mater University of Kent

Peter Robin Whittle AM (born 6 January 1961) is a British politician and, since November 2016, the Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party.

Whittle has served as an Assembly Member (AM) in the London Assembly, since the Assembly election in May 2016, and was also UKIP's candidate, at the same hustings, for the 2016 London mayoral election.

Whittle was born in Peckham, South London, and studied at Roan Boys' School, Orpington College and the University of Kent (BA History and Politics). He worked in journalism, living for five years in Los Angeles, before founding the New Culture Forum think-tank in 2006.

He became UKIP's cultural spokesperson in 2013 and stood for Eltham at the 2015 general election, coming third with 15% of the vote, beating both the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

In September 2015, Whittle was selected as the UKIP candidate for Mayor of London, as well as topping the party list for election to the Greater London Assembly. Openly gay, Whittle was the only LGBT candidate currently selected by any of the parties for the 2016 Mayoral election.

On 12 October Whittle announced his intention to stand for UKIP leader following the resignation of Diane James after just 18 days; however, on reflection, he decided to stand for the position of deputy leader instead and was duly successful in this candidature. On 28 November 2016, it was announced that Whittle was the new Deputy Leader of UKIP, replacing Paul Nuttall, the new Party Leader.


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