Claire Regina Fox, Baroness Fox of Buckley (born 5 June 1960), is a British writer, journalist, lecturer and politician who sits in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a non-affiliated life peer. She is the director and founder of the

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

the Academy of Ideas (formerly Institute of Ideas). A lifelong

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

, she was previously a member of the

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

British Revolutionary Communist Party but later began identifying as a

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

. She became a registered supporter of the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

shortly after its formation and was elected as an MEP in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

. She was nominated for a peerage by the

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

-led

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

government in 2020, despite her past opposition to the existence of the

Early life and career

Fox was born in 1960 to

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

parents, John Fox and Maura Cleary. She spent her early years in Buckley, Wales. After attending St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

, she studied at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

where she graduated with a lower second class degree (2:2) in English and American Literature. She later gained a Professional Graduate Certificate in Education. From 1981 to 1987, she was a

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

social worker. She was later an English Language and Literature lecturer at Thurrock Technical College from 1987 to 1990 and at West Herts College from 1992 to 1999.

Revolutionary Communist Party

Fox joined the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) as a student at the University of Warwick. For the next twenty years, she was one of the RCP's core activists and organisers. She became co-publisher of its magazine '' Living Marxism''. When ''Living Marxism'' rebranded as ''LM'' in 1999, she organised its first conference. ''LM'' closed in 2000 after it was found in court to have falsely accused

Independent Television News Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washington, D.C. I ...

(ITN) of faking evidence of the

Bosnian genocide The Bosnian genocide () took place during the Bosnian War of 1992–1995 and included both the Srebrenica massacre and the wider crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War, ethnic cleansing campaign perpetrated throughout ar ...

. In 2018, Fox refused to apologise for suggesting that evidence of the genocide was faked. Fox stayed with her ex-RCP members when the group transformed itself in the early 2000s into a network around the web magazine '' Spiked Online'' and the Institute of Ideas, both based in the former RCP offices and promoting

libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according t ...

Media career

After founding the Institute of Ideas, Fox became a guest panellist on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme '' The Moral Maze'' and appeared as a panellist on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's political television programme '' Question Time''. She was criticised in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' for rejecting

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

as divisive and for her libertarian beliefs in the desirability of minimal governmental control and

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

in all contexts. In 2015, Fox was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women. Her book, ''I Find That Offensive!'', was published in 2016.

Return to politics

In April 2019, Fox became a registered supporter of the

. She was in the first position in the list for the Brexit Party in the

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

constituency at the

. Her selection was criticised by the father of murdered schoolboy Tim Parry for her past support for the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

and for the RCP's defence of the 1993 IRA Warrington bombings, which had killed his son within the North West England constituency. Another candidate for the Brexit Party, Sally Bate, resigned, citing Fox's "ambiguous position" on IRA violence. A Brexit Party spokesperson commented on the criticism of Fox: "It's a desperate attempt to cause trouble". Fox was subsequently elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. After standing down as an MEP when the United Kingdom left the EU on 31 January 2020, Fox was nominated for a peerage in July of that year. She sits as a non-affiliated peer. The Lord Caine, a long-serving Conservative Party adviser on Northern Ireland, criticised the decision, as did victims of IRA terror attacks. She previously claimed to be against the existence of the

, and congratulated Liberal Democrats for not taking up peerages in a 2015 tweet. She was created ''The Baroness Fox of Buckley'' on 14 September and was introduced to the Lords on 8 October 2020. On 7 June 2022, Fox reiterated her stance against the existence of the

, and claimed her decision to accept a life peerage as "pragmatic", resting on her belief such a position would provide a "platform" to enact political "change". On 9 November 2020, speaking in the Lords in favour of the Internal Market Bill, Fox described

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

as "a supranational instrument for undermining national sovereignty" and said that, rather than breaking the law, the UK government were making the law. On 6 June 2022, she criticised the decision of

Cineworld Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema operator headquartered in London, England. It is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites in 10 countries: Bulgaria, Czec ...

to cancel screenings of the movie '' The Lady of Heaven'' as a sign of a creeping extra-parliamentary

blasphemy law A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of Reverence (attitude), reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Re ...

. She likened it to

cancel culture Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is ostracized, boycotted, shunned or fired, often aided by social media. This shunning may extend to social or professio ...

, calling it a disaster for the arts, dangerous for free speech and a lesson to those who don't see a threat in

identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...

Personal life

Fox is the elder sister of British writer Fiona Fox and Gemma Fox."Claire and Fiona Fox, sisters"
''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' (May 2006) – An interview with Claire and Fiona Fox Fiona was also a ''Living Marxism'' contributor and later became director of the non-profit organisation

Science Media Centre The Science Media Centre is a charitable company, first formed in 2002, two years after the United Kingdom House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), Select committee on Science and Technology's third report on "Science and Society" in 20 ...

References

External links

Personal website

House of Lords: Baroness Fox of Buckley

Institute of Ideas biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Claire 1960 births 20th-century Welsh educators 21st-century Welsh women politicians 21st-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh writers 21st-century women MEPs for England Alumni of the University of Greenwich Alumni of the University of Warwick BBC people Brexit Party MEPs British Eurosceptics British women Marxists British magazine publishers (people) British people of Irish descent British political commentators British political writers Critics of multiculturalism English libertarians English social workers 21st-century British women writers Former Marxists British free speech activists Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Living people MEPs for England 2019–2020 People educated at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint People from Buckley, Flintshire Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1978) members Teachers of English Welsh libertarians Welsh social workers