Derek Roland Clark (10 October 1933 – 1 January 2023) was a

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 ...

politician. He was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

from 2004 to 2014. He stood as a UKIP candidate in the 2010 general election for Northampton South, receiving 1,897 votes (4.9%), which was 50 votes short of retaining his deposit. He was educated at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

(Teaching Certificate) and the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. He was a retired science teacher. In 2011, he was investigated by OLAF, the EU anti-fraud office, and was made to repay £31,800 for wages paid to employees who were working for UKIP and not for his EU Parliament work. Clark was a

climate change denier Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...

and pledged to ban the teaching of anthropogenic global warming in schools. Clark died on 1 January 2023, at the age of 89.

References

External links

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Profile on European Parliament website
1933 births 2023 deaths Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Exeter UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates Politics of Lincolnshire UK Independence Party MEPs MEPs for England 2004–2009 MEPs for England 2009–2014 {{UK-MEP-stub