Michelle Brown
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Michelle Margaret Freda Brown (born 30 December 1969) is a British lawyer and former politician who was a
Member of the Senedd A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituency, Senedd constituencies, a ...
(MS) for
North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
from
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
to
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
. In March 2019 she resigned from 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) to become an independent.


Background

Michelle Brown grew up in
Mostyn Mostyn is a village and Community (Wales), community in Flintshire, Wales, and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, located near the town of Holywell, Flin ...
and was educated at
St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School is a Catholic co-educational voluntary aided secondary school situated on Albert Avenue in Flint, Flintshire, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1954 to serve the Catholic population of Flintshire. It is one ...
, and at convents in
Holywell Holywell may refer to: England * Holywell, Bedfordshire * Holywell, Cambridgeshire * Holywell, Cornwall * Holywell, Dorset * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Sussex * Holywell, Gloucestershire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Ho-Hoo#Hol, location in ...
and
Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...
. She graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree in Law and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from
University of Staffordshire The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and London. History In 1901, industrialist Alfred ...
.


Political career


Member of the Senedd

At the
2016 National Assembly for Wales election The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016, to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). It was the fifth election for the National Assembly, the thir ...
, Brown ran as 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 ...
's candidate for Alyn and Deeside, finishing third with 3,765 votes (17.4%). She was also the second-placed candidate on UKIP's list for the North Wales region, winning a seat alongside UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill. Following her election to the Assembly, she voted for Neil Hamilton as leader of the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly and against Nathan Gill.


2017 Controversies

In February 2017 Future Inns, a hotel in Cardiff Bay, accused Brown of smoking "recreational drugs" in her hotel room. The hotel stated the room could not be used for 24 hours and issued a £250 bill to Brown for the cleaning cost. In July 2017, a recording of a telephone conversation emerged, in which Brown was heard describing the Labour MP for
Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...
,
Chuka Umunna Chuka Harrison Umunna (; born 17 October 1978) is a British businessman and former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham from 2010 until 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he was part of the Shadow Cabine ...
, as a "fucking
coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
". The call, made in May 2016 to her then senior adviser Nigel Williams, was recorded clandestinely. Brown said her language was "inappropriate" and apologised, although also stating that she "was using language that friends and colleagues often do when chatting to each other". However, Brown stated that she stood by her comments that Umunna had "as much understanding of an ordinary black man's experience as I have". Brown was also recorded referring to
Tristram Hunt Tristram Julian William Hunt, (born 31 May 1974) is a British historian, broadcast journalist and former politician who has been Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum since 2017. He served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Sto ...
, who was then Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central as a
twat ''Twat'' is an English-language vulgarism which means the vulva or vagina, and is used figuratively as a derogatory epithet. In British English, and Irish English it is a common insult referring to an obnoxious or stupid person regardless of ...
. Brown's comments were referred to the assembly's standards commissioner and Labour, Conservative, and Plaid Cymru members called for Brown to be sanctioned. Brown was suspended for a week without pay after an investigation by the assembly's standards committee, a decision which was criticised by Neil Hamilton, leader of the UKIP group in the assembly. It was revealed in July 2017 that the UKIP branch in Delyn which was led by Nigel Williams whom Brown had suspended some weeks earlier for incompetence, had called for her de-selection, accusing her of "abrasive and discourteous" behaviour towards local members who Brown asserted she had never met. UKIP dismissed the letter as written by a "tiny and insignificant group" holding a "long standing grudge" against Ms Brown


Other activity

In March 2018 she was chosen by the UKIP Assembly group over Hamilton's choice of Gareth Bennett to be their representative on the party National Executive Committee and in May 2018 she backed Caroline Jones to replace Hamilton. Brown expressed regret at Jones leaving the group after Bennett won a ballot of party members intended to settle the group's leadership.


Resignation from UKIP

In March 2019 Brown resigned from UKIP to become an independent AM, accusing the UKIP group of sexism. According to
Wales Online Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fou ...
, Brown was told she would not be welcome in 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 ...
when it formed a Welsh Assembly group in May 2019, an accusation Brown has called "fake news" as she states she never asked to join. In the
2021 Senedd election The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). It was the sixth Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved general election since the Senedd (formerly the National Assembly for ...
, Brown stood for re-election as an Independent candidate on the North Wales list vote, but was unsuccessful, getting only 0.2% of the vote.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Michelle 1969 births Living people Female members of the Senedd People educated at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint UK Independence Party members of the Senedd Wales MSs 2016–2021