Christopher John Fred Gill RD (born 28 October 1936) is a British politician, and a former member of the National Executive Committee of the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

(UKIP). He is the president of

The Freedom Association The Freedom Association (TFA) is a pressure group in the United Kingdom that describes itself as "a non-partisan, classically liberal campaign group, which has links to the Conservative Party and UK Independence Party (UKIP). TFA was founded in ...

(TFA). A former Conservative Party

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, he was one of the

Maastricht Rebels The Maastricht Rebels were British Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the then governing Conservative Party who refused to support the government of Prime Minister John Major in a series of votes in the House of Commons on the issue of t ...

of the mid-1990s.

Biography

Gill was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, where he later became a local councillor, and was educated locally at Birchfield Preparatory School, then at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

. His national service was in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, serving aboard and . He retired as Chairman of his family's sausage-making business, F.A. Gill Ltd., in 2006. Gill served as Conservative MP for

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The ...

from 1987 to 2001, when he stepped down. He was known as the "Butcher from Ludlow" because of his family company being a meat processing firm. He had the Conservative whip withdrawn over the EC Finance Bill on 28 November 1994. As a constituency MP, Gill fought against the closure of local

cottage hospital A cottage hospital is a semi-obsolete type of small hospital, most commonly found in the United Kingdom. The original concept was a small rural building having several beds.The Cottage Hospitals 1859–1990, Dr. Meyrick Emrys-Roberts, Tern Publicati ...

s. Gill was also known for being an expert on areas of

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

legislation, and he was a notable Eurosceptic. Shortly before leaving Parliament in 2001, he resigned his membership of the Conservatives. In 2006, Gill announced that he had joined the

(UKIP), having endorsed the party's policies at the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

. He was an elected member of UKIP's National Executive Committee from 2007 until 2010. He stood for Ludlow as a UKIP candidate at the 2010 general election, coming fourth with 2,127 votes, 4.4% of the total, losing his deposit but almost tripling the 2005 vote. At the time of the election, Gill stated that his reasoning for standing was: "I am standing against 'call me Dave's' Tories because I cannot tolerate their utter contempt for the concerns of voters on matters of immigration, economy, individual liberty and the broken promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty."Former Tory MP to stand for UKIP in Ludlow
/ref> He ws chairman of

from 2001, before becoming its president in 2007.

Publications

* *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Christopher 1936 births Living people People from Wolverhampton Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Shrewsbury School Councillors in Wolverhampton UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire Members of the Freedom Association Conservative Party (UK) councillors British Eurosceptics