Bob Spink
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Robert Michael Spink (born 1 August 1948) is a British former politician who was a member of parliament (MP) for Castle Point in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
(1992 to 1997, and 2001 to 2010). Spink was elected as the Conservative Party MP for Castle Point in 1992, lost his seat in 1997, but regained it in 2001. Having resigned the Conservative whip in March 2008, in April 2008 he defected to 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 (both through defect ...
(UKIP), becoming that party's first MP. In November 2008, he became an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
. Standing as an independent, he lost his seat in the 2010 election to the Conservative candidate,
Rebecca Harris Dame Elizabeth Rebecca Scott Harris (born 22 December 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Castle Point since 2010. She was the Comptroller of the Household from 2022 to 2024. In ...
. Spink subsequently rejoined UKIP. In 2017, he was convicted on four counts of electoral fraud, and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in January 2018.


Early life

He was educated at Holycroft Secondary Modern School (now a primary school) on Victoria Road in
Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...
and Southall Technical College. At the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
, he gained a BSc Hons (1st) in 1972. At
Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...
, he gained an MSc in
industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...
and administration in 1975 and
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in economics and management in 1988. He joined the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF) in 1964 and, until 1966, did his
basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique dema ...
at
RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station near to the village of Cosford, Shropshire, England just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton. It is a training station, home to ...
and
RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years b ...
, being invalided. He was an engineer for EMI Electronics Ltd from 1966 to 1977 in Hayes and gained an Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) from Southall Technical College in 1969 when on day-release, then became an industrial management consultant in 1977 for Harold Whitehead and Partners. From 1980 to 1984, he was a director of Seafarer Navigation International Ltd (eventually bought by Standard Communications) in
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
and, from 1989 to 1993, he was a non-executive director of Bournemouth International Airport. From 1984 to 1993, he was a management consultant. From 1997 to 2001, he worked for Harold Whitehead in Windsor. He was a county councillor in Dorset from 1985 to 1992.


Parliamentary career

In May 1994, Spink presented an
adjournment debate In the Westminster system, an adjournment debate is a debate on the motion, "That this House do now adjourn." In practice, this is a way of enabling the House to have a debate on a subject without considering a substantive motion. Types of deba ...
in the House of Commons in strong opposition to proposals to reduce the age of consent for homosexual acts from 21 to 18 The age of consent was later reduced to 18 after the passing of the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights, clamping down on unlicensed ...
. In April 2005, before the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
, Spink placed an advertisement in the local ''Yellow Advertiser'' newspaper criticising the Labour government's record against illegal immigration. His rival for the constituency, the Labour candidate Luke Akehurst, denounced Spink's advert as provoking racial tension. Spink won the election increasing his share of the vote by 3.7%. In March 2008, Spink announced to the UK House of Commons that he had resigned the Conservative Party
whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...
because of "criminal and other irregularities" in his constituency. Soon afterwards, in April 2008, he joined
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 (both through defect ...
and therefore became it first member of parliament. He later found himself at odds with his new party over the issue of whether or not to extend the amount of time a suspect can be detained without charge from 28 to 42 days. He voted for the bill, but UKIP opposed it. Spink is opposed to
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
and supports the reintroduction of
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
. He is against research into animal chimeras. In March 2010, Spink confirmed he was encouraging candidates to stand in local elections under the label "Independent Save Our Green Belt". At the 2010 general election, he stood as an independent candidate, but made it clear that he was supporting UKIP. UKIP aided his election campaign and he received 27% of the vote, but lost Castle Point to the Conservative
Rebecca Harris Dame Elizabeth Rebecca Scott Harris (born 22 December 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Castle Point since 2010. She was the Comptroller of the Household from 2022 to 2024. In ...
. In 2014, he rejoined UKIP.


Electoral fraud

In January 2018, Spink was given a six-month suspended prison sentence with 150 hours community service and ordered to pay £5,000 costs, for electoral fraud. He had tricked elderly and infirm constituents into signing election nomination forms which they believed were petitions. They did not know they were to nominate a UKIP candidate or that Spink represented UKIP. Sentencing, Judge Ian Graham said, "This sort of offending undermines the working of democratic structures in this country. The democratic process depends on the good faith of those who engage in it, because a lot of what happens is of course quite difficult to police."


Personal life

He married Janet Barham and they have three sons and a daughter. They have since divorced.


References


External links


Bob Spink MP
''They Work for You''
Voting Record — Bob Spink MP, Castle Point (11245)
''The Public Whip'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Spink, Bob 1948 births Living people 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Military personnel from West Yorkshire Alumni of Cranfield University Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Politicians from Essex People from Haworth UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK Independence Party MPs English politicians convicted of crimes Councillors in Dorset British Eurosceptics Alumni of the University of Manchester Politicians from West Yorkshire