Roger Helmer MEP |
|
---|---|
UKIP Energy and Industry Spokesperson | |
Assumed office 24 July 2014 |
|
Leader |
Nigel Farage Diane James (Elect) Paul Nuttall |
Member of the European Parliament for East Midlands |
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Assumed office 1 May 1999 |
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Preceded by | Position established |
Personal details | |
Born |
London, England |
25 January 1944
Nationality | British |
Political party |
Conservative (1993 - 2012) UKIP (2012 to present) |
Alma mater | Churchill College, Cambridge |
Website | RogerHelmer.com |
Roger Helmer (born 25 January 1944) is a British politician and businessman. He is the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region, and was the Head of Delegation for the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Before becoming an MEP, he was a business executive.
Helmer was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, 2004, and 2009 as a member of the Conservative Party and in 2014 as a member of UKIP, having defected from the Conservatives to UKIP in March 2012. He has described himself as a eurosceptic and is a supporter of the Better Off Out campaign.
Born in London, Helmer attended King Edward VI School, Southampton on a state scholarship (1955–62). He read Mathematics at Churchill College, Cambridge, graduating in 1965 with a B.A. and subsequently gaining an M.A.
He began his business career in that year with Procter & Gamble in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, going on to hold senior marketing and general management appointments in a range of companies, including Readers Digest, National Semiconductor, Coats Viyella and the whisky firm United Distillers. During the course of his business career he lived and worked in various countries.