Paul Nuttall

Paul Andrew Nuttall (born 30 November 1976) is a British politician who served as Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2016 to 2017.

As a footballer, he was a member of Tranmere Rovers' youth squad in the early 1990s, although he later backtracked on claims made in one of his own press releases and UKIP campaign material that he had played professionally for the team.

He completed a Higher National Diploma in sports science at North Lincolnshire College.

He studied history at Edge Hill College (now Edge Hill University), graduating with a BA, and at Liverpool Hope University where he specialised in Edwardian politics and graduated with an MA.

During his time at Edge Hill, Nuttall submitted an essay about the causes of the Holocaust, in which, according to his lecturer David Renton, he "suggested that there was an argument to be made that the Jewish people had brought it on themselves", citing the writer and Holocaust denier David Irving.

When Renton discussed the quotations with him, Nuttall told Renton that "he was not responsible for the citations: his girlfriend had found them on the internet".

In the 2002 local government elections, he stood as a Conservative candidate in Derby Ward on Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, where he came second, winning 11.4% of the vote.

Nuttall was a Conservative Party candidate in a council election in Sefton before joining UKIP in 2004.

In 2004, Nuttall started working towards a PhD in the 'History of Conservatism in Liverpool', but did not complete it.

He received a Certificate in Education from the University of Central Lancashire.

He lectured at Liverpool Hope University between 2004 and 2006.

Before joining UKIP, Nuttall was a member of the Conservative Party.

In 2004, he left the Conservatives and joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

Nuttall stood unsuccessfully for UKIP six times in parliamentary elections between 2005 and 2017, of which his best result was finishing second in the 2017 Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election.

He founded its South Sefton branch in 2005 in order to contest elections in north Merseyside.

He was UKIP's candidate for Bootle in the 2005 general election, where he won 4.1% of the vote.

At the 2008 local elections, Nuttall again stood as a candidate for Derby Ward on Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, but this time as a UKIP candidate.

He won 38% of the vote, behind the Labour candidate.

In 2008, Nuttall also became the founding secretary of Young Independence, the youth wing of UKIP for under 35-year-olds.

Nuttall was appointed as chairman of UKIP in September 2008.

At the time, he was also employed as a political adviser to the Independence/Democracy group in the European Parliament.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, and served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England between 2009 and 2019, sitting in the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group.

He held this position until UKIP's spring conference in 2009 when Young Independence held its first internal elections.

In the 2009 European Parliament election, Nuttall was selected to head the UKIP list for the North West England constituency.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, he said "The Euro-election next June will give people the chance to express their views about the European Union. It is really the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that they have been denied. A vote for any other party is a vote for the EU. If people do not like having 80% of our legislation emanating from unelected bureaucrats in Brussels the only party to vote for is UKIP."

He was subsequently elected.

Nuttall became a member of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group in the European Parliament, as well as a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and a substitute member of the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT).

His first speech in plenary was on 7 October 2009, on the "underhand and undemocratic way in which the incandescent light bulb has been banned across the European Union."

He became deputy leader of UKIP, deputising for Nigel Farage, in November 2010 and the party's spokesperson for education, life skills and training in July 2014.

Nuttall opened an office for his European Parliament work in Bootle in March 2010.

Nuttall again contested Bootle at the 2010 general election, coming fourth with 6.1% of the vote.

He favours a ban on wearing burqas in public places, has shown support for the reintroduction of the death penalty, and opposed Labour's 2015 plans to include LGBT-inclusive sex and relationship education in schools.

Born in Bootle in Merseyside, Nuttall was educated at Savio High School, a Roman Catholic school.

He was raised Catholic and currently practises that faith.

He completed his A-Levels at Hugh Baird College in Bootle.

Nuttall was previously married and has a child from that marriage.

He was elected party leader in the November 2016 leadership election.

He resigned as party leader after coming third in Boston and Skegness in the 2017 general election, with his party losing most of its electoral support.

A prominent eurosceptic, Nuttall has also called for the establishment of an English parliament.

He left UKIP in December 2018, criticising the party's association with far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and joined The Brexit Party in 2019.