Robert Kilroy-Silk

Robert Kilroy-Silk

Robert Kilroy-Silk (born 19 May 1942, Birmingham) is a former British MEP from UK Independence Party (2004-2009).

Background

Robert Kilroy-Silk started his political life as a Labour MP in the 1970s. Later he quit his position to be a TV presenter on BBC to present Kilroy Show. After having been forced to resign from the BBC because of his anti-Arab remarks published on Sunday Express, he joined the UKIP, from which he was elected MEP in 2004.

It was not the first time he was accused of expressing racist views on his newspaper column. "In 1992 he sparked fury with his comments about the Irish in the pages of the Daily Express. He described EC Commissioner Ray MacSharry as a "redundant second-rate politician from a country peopled by peasants, priests and pixies". After a complaint from the Irish Ambassador to the UK, he apologised. The then editor Sir Nicholas Lloyd also apologised."

His efforts to be the leader of UKIP did end up in vain, so he left the party in 2005 to found a new political party called Veritas (Latin for 'truth'), from which he resigned as the leader five months after founding the party, stating that "the electors are content with the old parties and that it would be virtually impossible for a new party to make a significant impact given the nature of our electoral system" and also that "it is impossible to have an effective political party without a central administration and significant financial support." He now sits on the European Parliament chambers as an independent MEP although he was elected from the UKIP list.

When he left the party in 2005, the leader of the UKIP, Roger Knapman, clearly stated that they were happy to see him leave. In 2005, he was criticised for doing too little, if any, work about his constituency. Conservative Christopher Heaton-Harris, Conservative Roger Helmer, Labour Phillip Whitehead and Derek Clark from UKIP said they "deplore" Mr Kilroy-Silk's non-attendance. "He seems to have done little or no work as a constituency MEP for the East Midlands. This leaves five MEPs to do the work of six and the electorate have been short-changed," they wrote. "Mr Kilroy-Silk should either do the job for which he is paid, or get out and leave it to those who can."

Affiliations

Parliamentary Affiliations

Member:

20.07.2004 / 31.10.2004 : Independence/Democracy Group

01.11.2004 / 13.07.2009 : Non-attached Members

31.01.2007 / 13.07.2009 : Committee on Culture and Education

Personal Information

Curriculum Vitae

• B.Sc. (Econ.), LSE (1966).
• University lecturer, Liverpool University (1966-1974).
• Television presenter, 'Kilroy' (1986-2004).
• Labour MP: Ormskirk (1974-1983); Knowsley North (1983-1986).

Contact

Address:

Phone:

Email:

Website:

http://www.robertkilroysilk.org.uk

This article is part of the MEPedia project of Spinwatch.

Resources

• BBC News, "Kilroy launches 'Veritas' party," 02 February 2005, accessed 24 February 2009.
• BBC News, "Kilroy quits as leader of Veritas," 29 July 2005, accessed 24 February 2009.
• BBC News, Profile: Robert Kilroy-Silk MEP, accessed 24 February 2009.
• Brown, Colin, "Kilroy-Silk lays claim to the leadership of UKIP," The Independent, 04 October 2004, accessed 24 February 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Robert Kilroy-Silk, accessed 03 February 2009.
• European Parliament, MEP Directory: Robert Kilroy-Silk, accessed 29 November 2010.
• Gibson, Owev, "BBC pulls Kilroy-Silk show after anti-Arab comments," Guardian, 09 January 2004, accessed 24 February 2009.
• Stares, Justin, "Kilroy-Silk does 'little or no work' and should quit, say MEPs," Telegraph, 13 August 2005, accessed 24 February 2009.
• Tempest, Matthew, "Kilroy quits as Veritas leader," Guardian, 29 July 2005, accessed 24 February 2009.