James Carver

James Bruce Carver (born 15 August 1969) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands region between 2014 and 2019. He was elected in 2014 for the UK Independence Party, second on the list for the region, being elected together with Jill Seymour and Bill Etheridge.[1] He resigned from UKIP on 28 May 2018, stating that he had become "out of kilter" with the party.[2]

James Carver
UKIP Spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office
21 June 2014 – 25 April 2017
LeaderNigel Farage
Diane James (Elect)
Nigel Farage (Acting)
Paul Nuttall
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byRay Finch
Member of the European Parliament
for the West Midlands
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
Preceded byPhil Bennion
Succeeded byPhil Bennion
Personal details
Born
James Bruce Carver

(1969-08-15) 15 August 1969
Farnborough, England, UK
Political partyUK Independence Party (1996–2018)
Independent (2018–)
Alma materBromley College of Further and Higher Education

Biography

Carver was born on 15 August 1969 in Farnborough, Kent and was educated at St John Rigby Catholic College and Orpington College of Further Education.[3] He runs a family business making umbrellas for bookmakers at racecourses.[4]

Political career

Carver stood in four general elections for UKIP: Orpington in 1997 (5th, 526 votes), Cheltenham in 2001 (6th, 482 votes), Preseli Pembrokeshire in 2005 (5th, 498 votes), and Stourbridge in 2015 (3rd, 7,774 votes). He was also sixth on the party list for London in the 1999 European election.

Carver is of Romanichal descent on his grandmother's side, giving rise to his interest in fostering better relationships with traveller communities.[5] He believes that he is the only British Parliamentarian from a Romany background.[5] He has also helped raise both money and awareness for the Scleroderma Society following the death of his first wife from scleroderma in 2009.[6] He has a lifelong commitment to raise awareness of this relatively unknown connective tissue disease.[6]

In April 2017, Carver resigned as UKIP's foreign affairs spokesperson following the party's promise to ban the wearing of the burqa in public. He said that "no one has the right to dictate what people should wear", and that the policy undermined his ability to represent British Muslims in his constituency.[7][8]

In August 2017, Carver endorsed Henry Bolton in the UKIP leadership election, citing his credentials to restructure the party.[9] Following the election of Bolton as leader of UKIP, Carver was appointed assistant deputy leader.[10]

In May 2018, Carver resigned from UKIP and then sat as an independent MEP until the end of the Eighth European Parliament.[11][12]

Elections contested

UK Parliament elections

Date of election Constituency Party Votes Percentage of votes Result
1997 general election Orpington UKIP 526 0.9 Not elected
2001 general election Cheltenham UKIP 482 1.2 Not elected
2005 general election Preseli Pembrokeshire UKIP 498 1.3 Not elected
2015 general election Stourbridge UKIP 7,774 16.9 Not elected

European Parliament elections (Multi-member constituency; party list)

Date of election Region Party Votes Percentage of votes Result
1999 European election London UKIP 61,741 5.4 Not elected
2014 European election West Midlands UKIP 428,010 31.5 Elected

Member of the European Parliament

Carver was first elected to the European Parliament in 2014. He serves on the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Among the topics Carver has raised are:

  • EU expansionism and military confrontation[13][14][15][16]
  • Economic issues and hardships arising from the eurozone [17]
  • The role of the EU operating outside of international law either at home and abroad[18]

He also supports:

  • Fostering better understanding of the gypsy communities and how to integrate with mainstream society[19]
  • The banning of legal highs[20]
  • Recognition of Somaliland[21]
  • Addressing the rise of Islamist extremism in the Middle East and Europe[22]

Carver is critical of EU's policy in Israel, claiming that its actions do not comply with the founding treaties of the EU. He says structures built by the EU in a number of Beduin encampments outside Ma'aleh Adumim and on the Jerusalem-Jericho road bearing the EU logo are disrespectful of the rule of law: "EU member states would not allow such behavior within their own borders, nor would the EU endorse or find it anywhere within the European Union."[23]

On 28 May 2018, Carver resigned from UKIP to sit as an independent MEP.[11][12]

gollark: This is actually just a subset of the osmarks.tk comment system.
gollark: If you don't define your test and hypothesis and whatever well beforehand, you'll just end up retroactively reinterpreting the data to justify whatever you want.
gollark: You didn't come up with a good way to measure the results, user.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: > nah it's gotta be one week if this is science???

References
  1. "Vote 2014 - West Midlands". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  2. "UKIP's Kidderminster-based MEP James Carver quits UKIP". Kidderminster Shuttle. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  3. "About James Carver". James Carver MEP. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. Miller, Nick (9 September 2016). "European Union's greatest concern is 'contagion': UKIP member James Carver". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. Edwards, Tom (5 April 2017). "MEP calls for end to "chronic shortage" of traveller sites across Worcestershire". Worcester News. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. Greenaway, Sam (23 June 2017). "Worcester-based MEP James Carver supporting charity campaign in memory of his first wife". Worcester News. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  7. Cowburn, Ashley; Sharman, Jon (25 April 2017). "Ukip foreign affairs spokesman James Carver resigns over party's burqa ban promise". The Independent. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. Walker, Jonathan (25 April 2017). "UKIP MEP James Carver quits party role over planned burqa ban". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  9. Cousin, Sarah (August 2017). "James Carver backs Henry Bolton's bid to become UKIP leader". James Carver MEP. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  10. Walker, Peter (18 October 2017). "New Ukip leader Henry Bolton reveals frontbench lineup". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  11. "James Carver MEP on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  12. "UKIP's Kidderminster-based MEP James Carver quits UKIP". Stourbridge News. 28 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. UKIP MEPs (24 February 2015). "Peace in Europe is on a knife-edge - UKIP MEP James Carver" – via YouTube.
  14. UKIP MEPs (25 September 2014). "European External Action Service an unnecessary burden on taxpayer - James Carver MEP" – via YouTube.
  15. UKIP MEPs (9 September 2014). "EU's vanity project causing more turmoil in Ukraine - Jim Carver MEP" – via YouTube.
  16. UKIP MEPs (18 December 2014). "Cameron's EU dream stretches from the Atlantic to the Urals" – via YouTube.
  17. UKIP MEPs (8 October 2014). "EU empire building means greater financial and democratic burdens - @JamesJimCarver" – via YouTube.
  18. UKIP MEPs (17 December 2014). "EU has no legal right to recognise states - Nigel Farage and James Carver @UKIP" – via YouTube.
  19. UK EUROPE NEWS (18 September 2014). "UKIP James Carver-EU What About Roma Human Rights" – via YouTube.
  20. Bate, Gema (17 September 2014). "West Midlands MEP hits out at legal highs". Kidderminster Shuttle. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  21. UKIP MEPs (11 February 2015). "Independence might be a good option for South Arabia - James Carver MEP" – via YouTube.
  22. UKIP MEPs (11 February 2015). "Saudis and Qataris must face up to their sponsorship of IS - UKIP MEP James Carver" – via YouTube.
  23. Keinon, Herb; Lazaroff, Tovah (5 February 2015). "Report: EU building hundreds of illegal structures for Palestinians in Area C of West Bank". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
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