Nikki Sinclaire

Nicole Sinclaire (born 26 July 1968) is a British former politician who was leader of the We Demand a Referendum Party, and served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 2009 to 2014.

Sinclaire's UKIP posts included Head Office Manager (1999–2001), member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), and Party Secretary under the leadership of Roger Knapman.

In 2001, she was disqualified from the NEC, shortly after being elected.

Sinclaire stood for the UK Parliament twice as a UKIP candidate: in Medway in 2001 and in Halesowen and Rowley Regis in 2005.

At the 2001 general election, she was the party's campaign manager for the three Kent constituencies of Medway, Gillingham, and Chatham & Aylesford.

In 2003, representing herself, she took UKIP to the High Court, successfully overturning her disqualification.

In 2004, she became Party Secretary, a position which she left to become political assistant and advisor to Mike Nattrass, MEP for the West Midlands (2004–09).

During the 2005 general election campaign, Sinclaire stood as the UKIP candidate for Halesowen & Rowley Regis, more than doubling the previous UKIP vote.

She was arrested after refusing to leave a public debate, "Queer Question Time" (to discuss issues related to the gay community) but was released without charge a few hours later.

In October 2008, it was reported that Sinclaire briefly met Baroness Thatcher at a Bruges Group dinner.

Sinclaire told Thatcher that she would be standing as an MEP candidate for the UK Independence Party in the West Midlands.

According to the BBC report, Thatcher replied "Good for you. Never give up, never give up".

She has also campaigned abroad, most notably in the United States, assisting on campaigns for US Representative Susan Davis and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

She was elected MEP in June 2009, as a UK Independence Party candidate but later resigned from the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group in which UKIP sat as a part in the European Parliament, citing the alleged extreme right-wing views of some of the group's members, including outspoken views condemning homosexuals and migrants.

In the 2009 European elections, Sinclaire was elected as a UKIP Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands region, while holding the second place on the UKIP list.

Thus she became the first openly lesbian member of the European Parliament for the UK delegation.

On 11 September 2009, Sinclaire announced she would stand in the 2009 UKIP leadership election.

Her decision to stand followed Nigel Farage's announcement on 4 September that he would stand down as UKIP leader to stand in the general election against John Bercow in Buckinghamshire.

The leadership ballot was won by Lord Pearson of Rannoch, with Sinclaire coming third with 1,214 votes.

Subsequently, Sinclaire sat as an Independent MEP from January 2010 until September 2012, during which time she set up the We Demand a Referendum party.

Sinclaire was invited, as a guest of the European Jewish Congress, to take part in events at Auschwitz, in January 2010, to mark the 65th anniversary of its liberation, and found herself as the only British Member of the European Parliament attending the event.

In January 2010, Sinclaire resigned from the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) grouping in the European Parliament, to which UKIP belongs, citing her displeasure at what she claimed to be some of the racist, extremist parties in membership of the EFD Group.

She also cited a deterioration in her relationship with Nigel Farage, the joint leader of the EFD group.

Sinclaire was subsequently expelled from UKIP for refusing to be part of the EFD group.

On its website, UKIP stated:

""She has also proved unable to collaborate adequately with the voluntary party in the UK, particularly with the regional committee in the West Midlands.

The national executive committee has therefore removed the whip; Nikki Sinclaire may no longer describe herself as a UKIP MEP, and she may not stand as a UKIP candidate in the forthcoming general election.""

Sinclaire won an Employment Tribunal claim for sex discrimination against her former colleagues.

UKIP did not lodge a defence, so the tribunal's decision went against the party by default.

Sinclaire stood in the 2010 general election in Meriden.

She used the label 'Solihull and Meriden Residents Association', and was endorsed by the Libertarian Party.

Amongst her opponents was a candidate endorsed by UKIP.

She won 1.3% of the vote, compared with 2.6% for the UKIP candidate.

Sinclaire launched a campaign for a referendum in July 2010, with the aim of collecting 100,000 signatures calling for a referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Union.

Sinclaire was the only UK politician to be chosen to fly to Tunisia in early February 2011, as part of an international delegation following the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

She was defeated in the 2014 elections, saying in a statement on her website: "my employers have spoken, and it would seem I have been unsuccessful in my attempt to be re-elected as an MEP for the West Midlands region."

Sinclaire was the first ever trans British parliamentarian.

Sinclaire was born in London and educated at the University of Kent at Canterbury, read for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree.

She has worked for Lloyds Black Horse Life as a 'problem troubleshooter', was employed as a Gateway store manager, and worked in Cyprus in the hospitality sector.

She was a Conservative before joining UKIP.