Winston McKenzie

Winston Truman McKenzie (born 23 October 1953) is a British political activist and perennial candidate for public office.

He is currently a founder and leader of the Unity in Action Party.

He has been a member of every major UK political party, and has stood as an independent or minor party candidate on numerous occasions without success.

A British Jamaican, McKenzie worked as a boxer before later running a pub with his brothers; it was closed down after police found many of its customers to possess weapons and drug

He also fought professionally as a super-welterweight in a career spanning 1975 to 1982, winning six of his 16 fights, and being knocked out nine times.

He contended that after an underprivileged childhood, "boxing was my salvation".

At the age of 23, his boxing career suffered a setback after he suffered two detached retinas, although he continued to box for many years.

He later worked as a hairdresser, a rug wholesaler, a letting agent and a garage mechanic.

He also ran a pub in Parchmore Road, Thornton Heath with his brothers.

When the McKenzies bought the pub, it had "a notorious reputation... as a 'battleground' rife with gangsters and drug pushers until the brothers took over."

He was a member of the Labour Party from the 1980s until 2001.

McKenzie joined the Labour Party in the 1980s.

They opened it as the McKenzie Bros Bar & Grill, but it was threatened with removal of its licence in July 2001 "after being caught several times by police serving alcohol after hours."

It closed down in December 2002, after a single police raid resulted in 25 people on the premises being charged with various drugs and firearms offences.

In 2002 he joined the Liberal Democrats and, in February 2003, was quoted in the press as saying "I'm still very involved with the Liberal Democrats and have every intention of standing for MP in the next election."

Seven months later he had left the Lib Dems.

The following year he joined the Liberal Democrats, staying with them until 2003; he then remained politically independent for some time before becoming a member of Veritas, going back to standing as an independent, then back to Veritas to unsuccessfully contest their leadership election.

The pub was boarded up after the raid, and McKenzie confirmed in January 2003 that it would not be reopening.

The building has been demolished.

He stood in the September 2003 Brent East by-election as an independent candidate on a slogan of "The black voice for Great Britain".

He pledged to "shut all gates of entry to immigrants and asylum seekers" (and ask the US to take on Britain's immigrants in exchange for Britain's support in the Iraq War), and to increase sports facilities for young people.

He also opposed university tuition fees on the grounds that young people should be able "to enjoy the privileges of childhood."

He polled 197 votes (0.94%), coming seventh out of 16 candidates.

In 2005 he unsuccessfully auditioned for The X Factor.

McKenzie joined the newly formed Veritas party in 2005, calling for "a blanket ban on immigration and asylum for one year", and becoming its principal spokesman on sport.

In the 2005 general election he stood for Veritas in Croydon North, coming seventh of nine candidates with 324 votes (0.7%).

After the election he denounced party leader Robert Kilroy-Silk, whom he publicly blamed for his defeat, his lost deposit and other financial losses as a result of his campaign.

He resigned from Veritas two weeks after the 2005 election (and three months after joining).

In 2006 he joined the Conservative Party, standing to be their London mayoral candidate but failing to be shortlisted, before becoming a political independent again.

In 2009, he tried to establish his own Unity Party, but this failed owing to a lack of financial backing; McKenzie then joined the UK Independence Party.

He stood for its leadership in 2010 and was the UKIP candidate in the 2012 Croydon North by-election, where he came third with 5.7% of the vote - his best ever election performance.

He served as UKIP's Commonwealth spokesman from 2014 until 9 March 2015, when he was sacked over a series of gaffes.

After an acrimonious departure from UKIP, McKenzie joined the English Democrats in December 2015 and attempted to run for Mayor of London in the 2016 election.

That year, he competed on the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, and was the first contestant to be eliminated, after receiving negative attention for his views on homosexuality.

In 2017, he left the English Democrats and founded his own party, Unity in Action.

Once a regular fixture in British politics, standing in up to three elections per year, McKenzie has stood for public office only once since 2018.

He blamed an abortive attempt to stand for Mayor of London in 2021 on difficulties he encountered with filling out forms.

He stood in the 2022 Croydon Mayoral Election as an independent, campaigning on a platform based largely on local economic stimulation and regeneration.

He received 1,324 (1.4%) votes, losing to Conservative candidate and former councillor for South Croydon, Jason Perry.

An elder brother of boxer Duke McKenzie and a younger brother of boxer Clinton McKenzie, Winston McKenzie was an amateur middleweight boxer.