Robert Kilroy-Silk
| Robert Kilroy-Silk | |
|---|---|
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Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands |
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In office 10 June 2004 – 4 June 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Nick Clegg |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
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Member of Parliament for Knowsley North |
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In office 9 June 1983 – 1 October 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | George Howarth |
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Member of Parliament for Ormskirk |
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In office 28 February 1974 – 9 June 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Harold Soref |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 May 1942 Birmingham, Warwickshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations |
Labour (1974–1986) UKIP (2004–05) Veritas (2005) |
| Spouse(s) | Jan Beech (1963–present) |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Television presenter |
Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk (born 19 May 1942) is an English academic, politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he was a Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the House of Commons in 1986 to present a new daytime talk show, Kilroy, which ran until 2004. He then served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2004 to 2009. Having been elected as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, he left them in 2005 to found a new party which he called Veritas. He resigned as its leader later the same year, and sat as an independent MEP for the rest of his term.
Robert Michael Silk was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of William Silk, a Royal Navy leading stoker, and his wife Minnie Rose (née Rooke). William Silk was lost at sea, age 22, whilst serving on HMS Charybdis, which was torpedoed by German E-Boats on 23 October 1943. His son was 17 months old.
In 1946 Robert's mother Rose remarried, to family friend John Francis Kilroy, a car worker at the Rootes plant in Warwickshire. He adopted the young boy and gave him the first part of his surname; Robert became known as Kilroy-Silk.
Kilroy-Silk failed his eleven-plus in 1953 but later passed the review and was educated at Saltley Grammar School, Saltley, Birmingham. He attended the London School of Economics to study Politics and Economics.
In 1963, Kilroy-Silk married Jan Beech, daughter of a shop steward. They have a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren. Kilroy-Silk also has an illegitimate son born in 1985.
After graduating from college, he became a lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool, serving from 1966 to 1974. He published a theoretical work, Socialism since Marx, in 1972.
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