Mark Reckless

Mark John Reckless (born 6 December 1970) is an English Brexit Party politician serving as Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East since 2016.

Mark Reckless MS
Reckless in 2016
Leader of the Brexit Party in the Senedd
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2019
Leader	Nigel Farage
Preceded by	Office established
Member of the Senedd for South Wales East
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2016
Preceded by	William Graham
UKIP Spokesperson for Economics
In office 18 August 2015 – 6 April 2017
Leader	Nigel Farage Diane James Paul Nuttall
Preceded by	Patrick O'Flynn
Succeeded by	Patrick O'Flynn
Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Bob Marshall-Andrews (Medway)
Succeeded by	Kelly Tolhurst
Personal details
Born	Mark John Reckless (1970-12-06) 6 December 1970 London, England
Political party	Brexit Party (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	Independent (2017–2019) UK Independence Party (2014–2017) Conservative (2002–2014)
Spouse(s)	Catriona Brown
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford The University of Law Columbia Business School
Website	www.assembly.wales/en/memhome/Pages/MemberProfile.aspx?mid=5227

He was previously elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood in the 2010 general election.[1] Reckless crossed the floor to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in September 2014;[2] he won re-election as a UKIP member in a by-election held in November 2014, but lost his seat to the Conservatives in the 2015 general election.

Whilst a member of the House of Commons, Reckless was noted for his rebelliousness; he cast 56 votes against the whip between 2010 and 2014, making him the 13th-most rebellious Conservative in the period.[3] He led a rebellion of 53 Conservative MPs on the EU budget, which inflicted the first House of Commons defeat on the coalition government.[4] From November 2010, he served as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

A Eurosceptic, he was elected to the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd, in 2016. He campaigned for the Leave side in the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union.[5] He subsequently joined the Brexit Party and was appointed Leader in the National Assembly by Nigel Farage in 2019.[6]

Education

Reckless was educated at Marlborough College before going up to Christ Church, Oxford, where he read philosophy, politics and economics. He then pursued postgraduate studies at Columbia Business School in the United States, receiving an MBA. At Columbia he studied alongside writer Jacob Appel, and is the subject of several thinly-veiled anecdotes in Appel's satire The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up.[7]

After university, he trained as a barrister at the College of Law, gaining an LLB, and was called to the Bar in 2007.

Early career

In the mid-1990s, Reckless worked for UBS Warburg.[8] In the late 1990s, he worked as a strategy consultant and associate in Financial Services Group at Booz, Allen & Hamilton.[9]

Until his election in May 2010, Reckless had been a solicitor at Herbert Smith[10] and had worked on legal matters that had had dealings with private investigators.[11] He was a member of the Kent Police Authority from 2007 to 2011.

Member of Parliament

Between 2002 and 2004, Reckless was a member of the policy unit at Conservative Central Office where he wrote a book on deregulation policy[12] as well as overseeing the development of the policy on directly elected police commissioners.[13] The first police and crime commissioner elections took place on 15 November 2012.

Reckless was elected as the member of parliament for Rochester and Strood in 2010 with a 9,953 majority for the Conservative Party, having previously contested the Medway constituency in 2001 and 2005, reducing the majority of the incumbent Labour MP to 3,780 in 2001 and 213 in 2005. He had served as a Medway councillor between 2007 and 2011.[14]

Reckless was elected to the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2010[15] often appearing on Newsnight and other political programmes, arguing for the deportation of clerics Abu Hamza[16] and Abu Qatada.[17] He was one of parliament's most rebellious MPs.[18] He was one of only six Conservative MPs to vote against increase of university tuition fees,[19][20] and was a critic of the government's energy policy, arguing that the government's Energy Bill introduced in December 2012 was "a sad retreat for Conservatives".[21]

In July 2010, Reckless apologised for missing a vote on the budget because he was drunk. He said that he "did not feel it was appropriate to take part in the vote because of the amount he had drunk".[22]

A Eurosceptic,[23] Reckless is also a critic of the European Court of Human Rights, saying it erodes "British freedom and democracy".[24]

He was chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Georgia.[25] The group's aims are "to facilitate greater parliamentary awareness of developments in Georgia".

On 30 September 2014, Reckless applied for the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds and therefore ceased to be an MP. A by-election was called on 20 November, at which Reckless was nominated to stand as the UKIP candidate. He was returned as a member of parliament for UKIP, becoming the party's second elected MP.

European Union budget rebellion

On 31 October 2012, Reckless led a rebellion of 53 Conservative MPs which inflicted the first House of Commons defeat (307 votes to 294) on the coalition government. The Tory rebels voted with Labour MPs to pass an amendment calling for a real-terms cut in the 2014–2020 EU budget multi-annual financial framework. The coalition government supported only a real-terms freeze in the EU budget as a minimum. The amendment was not binding on the government, but damaged prime minister David Cameron's authority on Europe before key EU budget negotiations in November 2012.[26] As a result of leading the successful rebellion, Reckless was voted 'Backbencher of the Year' by the Conservatives[27] and finished third in a ConservativeHome poll of 'Backbencher of the Year', although the site's editor Tim Montgomerie announced that 'if UKIP readers had been included in the poll Mark Reckless would have topped the vote.'[28]

Defection to UKIP

On 27 September 2014, Reckless defected to the UK Independence Party at its party conference in Doncaster, and announced his resignation in order to seek re-election at a by-election.[2] He became the second Conservative MP in the space of a month to defect to UKIP, the first being his close friend Douglas Carswell. In a speech delivered to the conference, Reckless claimed that the Conservative leadership was 'not serious about real change on Europe', and that 'Britain could be better'.[2]

Although he won the by-election on 20 November 2014 as a UKIP candidate, in the 2015 general election Reckless lost his seat to the Conservative candidate, Kelly Tolhurst.

In June 2015, Reckless was made Director of Policy Development by UKIP.

Member of the Senedd

In March 2016, Reckless was announced as UKIP's lead candidate for the regional seat of South Wales East. He was elected on 5 May 2016.

On 6 April 2017, Reckless left UKIP to join the Conservative Group; however, he did not rejoin the Conservative Party. This move made the Conservative group the second-largest in the Welsh Assembly. Upon leaving, he said, "I leave UKIP positively, having achieved our joint aim, a successful referendum to leave the EU".[29][30][31][32]

On 14 April 2019, Reckless left the Conservative Party Group over the party's failure to deliver Brexit. He then sat as an independent member[33] before joining until the Brexit Party the following month.[6]

On 15 May 2019, Reckless stated his intention to form a new Brexit Party political group, along with Caroline Jones, Mandy Jones, and David Rowlands. He is the current leader of the Brexit Party in the Senedd.[6] In July 2020, Reckless attracted criticism from some party volunteers when he stated that he would support the campaign to abolish the Senedd.[34]

Electoral history

• 2016 Welsh Assembly Election, South Wales East

Rochester and Strood, 2015

General election 2015: Rochester and Strood[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Kelly Tolhurst	23,142	44.1	-5.1
	UKIP	Mark Reckless	16,009	30.5	N/A
	Labour	Naushabah Khan	10,396	19.8	-8.7
	Green	Clive Gregory	1,516	2.9	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Prue Bray	1,251	2.4	-13.9
	TUSC	Dan Burn	202	0.4	+0.4
Majority			7,133	13.6
Turnout			52,516	66.5
	Conservative gain from UKIP		Swing	-17.8

Rochester and Strood 2014

See 2014 Rochester and Strood by-election

Rochester and Strood by-election, 20 November 2014[36][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	UKIP	Mark Reckless	16,867	42.1	N/A
	Conservative	Kelly Tolhurst	13,947	34.8	-14.4
	Labour	Naushabah Khan	6,713	16.8	-11.7
	Green	Clive Gregory	1,692	4.2	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Juby	349	0.9	-15.5
	Monster Raving Loony	Hairy Knorm Davidson	151	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Stephen Goldsborough	69	0.2	N/A
	People Before Profit	Nick Long	69	0.2	N/A
	Britain First	Jayda Fransen	56	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Mike Barker	54	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Charlotte Rose	43	0.1	N/A
	Patriotic Socialist Party	Dave Osborn	33	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Christopher Challis	22	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,920	7.3
Turnout			40,065	50.6	-14.3
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing	28.3%

Rochester and Strood 2010

The Rochester and Strood seat was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election. Following its boundary review of parliamentary representation in Kent, the Boundary Commission for England renamed the Medway (UK Parliament constituency) seat to Rochester and Strood. This is because the commission agreed that the term Medway is now primarily used for the larger unitary authority.[38]

General election 2010: Rochester and Strood[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Mark Reckless	23,604	49.2	+6.6
	Labour	Teresa Murray	13,651	28.5	−13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Juby	7,800	16.3	+3.9
	English Democrat	Ron Sands	2,182	4.5	N/A
	Green	Simon Marchant	734	1.5	N/A
Majority			9,953	20.7
Turnout			47,971	64.9	+2.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+9.8

Medway 2005

General election 2005: Medway[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bob Marshall-Andrews	17,333	42.2	-6.8
	Conservative	Mark Reckless	17,120	41.7	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Juby	5,152	12.5	+3.2
	UKIP	Bob Oakley	1,488	3.6	+1.1
Majority			213	0.5
Turnout			41,093	61.1	1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.6

Medway 2001

General election 2001: Medway[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bob Marshall-Andrews	18,914	49.0	+0.1
	Conservative	Mark Reckless	15,134	39.2	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Juby	3,604	9.3	-0.8
	UKIP	Nikki Sinclaire	958	2.5	+1.6
Majority			3,780	9.8
Turnout			38,610	59.5	-12.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Personal life

Reckless is a grandson of Henry McDevitt, who served as a Fianna Fáil TD for Donegal East in Dáil Éireann, the Irish parliament, from 1938 until 1943.[42] His mother emigrated to the UK when she was 17 to train as a nurse; however, Reckless has said that he doesn't see his mother as an "immigrant" and stated "I don't consider myself to have an immigrant background".[43]

He married Catriona Brown at Westminster Cathedral on 1 October 2011; the reception was held in the Palace of Westminster.[44] His best man was Daniel Hannan MEP.[45] Reckless had been the best man at Hannan's wedding.[46]

References

1. LIST OF MEMBERS RETURNED TO SERVE IN PARLIAMENT AT THE GENERAL ELECTION 2010. The London Gazette, 13 May 2010
2. "Mark Reckless defects to UKIP from Tories". BBC News. 27 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
3. Cowley, Philip; Stuart, Mark. "The Four Year Itch" (PDF). University of Nottingham. p. 49. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
4. Cameron Commons Defeat on EU Budget 31 October 2012
5. "New Ukip turmoil as Conservative defector Mark Reckless quits and rejoins Tories". The Daily TelegraphOn 15th May 2019 he again renounced his membership of the Conservative Party and joined the new Brexit Party as leader in the Welsh Assembly. 6 April 2017.
6. "Assembly members join forces with Farage". 15 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
7. Columbia Spectator, 1 October 2014
8. Mark Reckless: Government borrowing is preventing private lending ConservativeHome 28 November 2008.
9. Mark Reckless MP Your Local Guardian 26 September 2012.
10. Solicitors stand as MP Archived 1 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine The Law Society Gazette 29 April 2012.
11. Home-Affairs-Committee-Formal-Minutes Tuesday 15 May 2012
12. The Drivers of Regulation Google Books 2004.
13. Mark Reckless MP: Police and Crime Commissioners are one of the great reforms of this Conservative-led government ConservativeHome 27 May 2012.
14. Mark Reckless Cllr, Medway Council, 2001
15. Members of the Home Affairs Select Committee, November 2010
16. Mark Reckless welcomes Abu Hamza Deportation, BBC Newsnight, 5 October 2012.
17. Deport Abu Qatada, BBC Newsnight, 18 April 2012.
18. Order Order: Why the newest Tories are a major headache for Cameron, The Independent, 30 December 2011.
19. The Tories Who Rebelled Over Tuition Fees, Financial Times, 9 December 2010.
20. Voting Record Tuition Fees, Public Whip, 9 December 2010.
21. The Energy Bill is a sad retreat for Conservatives, ConservativeHome, 19 December 2012
22. Mark Reckless MP sorry for being 'too drunk to vote, BBC News, 11 July 2010.
23. Wintour, Patrick (30 October 2011). "Conservative Eurosceptics turn fire on UK negotiator". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
24. European Court of Human Rights gets out begging bowl, The Daily Telegraph, 21 June 2012
25. All Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia, House of Commons Register, December 2012.
26. Watt, Nicholas (31 October 2012). "David Cameron suffers Commons defeat on EU budget". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
27. Mark Reckless Named Pin Up of the Year Archived 13 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Rochester People, 27 December 2012
28. Backbencher of the year, ConservativeHome, 27 December 2012
29. Servini, Nick (6 April 2017). "UKIP's Mark Reckless to join Conservatives in assembly". BBC News. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
30. "Mark Reckless quits Ukip to rejoin Conservatives". ITV News. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
31. Reckless, Mark [@MarkReckless] (6 April 2017). "Job done: Why I am joining the Conservative Group in the Welsh Assembly" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 April 2017 – via Twitter.
32. "New Ukip turmoil as Conservative defector Mark Reckless quits and rejoins Tories". The Daily Telegraph.
33. "Reckless leaves Tories in Cardiff Bay". BBC News. BBC News. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
34. Robert Harries (13 July 2020). "Mutiny by Brexit Party volunteers after leader Mark Reckless says he wants to abolish the Senedd". WalesOnline. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
35. "UK Polling Report".
36. "Mark Reckless wins Rochester by-election for Ukip with 2,900 majority". Telegraph.co.uk. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
37. "UKIP's Reckless wins Rochester seat". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
38. Fifth Periodical Report, Volume I: Report, Cm 7032-i (PDF). London: The Stationery Office. 2007. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-10-170322-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
39. "Rochester & Strood". BBC News. 7 May 2010.
40. "UK General Election results May 2005". Political Science Resources. University of Keele. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
41. "Medway". Political Science Resources. University of Keele. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
42. Over A Third Of Irish Want To Leave Euro For Pound | Mark Reckless MP Archived 19 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Markreckless.com. Retrieved on 6 February 2012.
43. Ukip’s Mark Reckless on the party’s ‘Irish policy’ Irish Post. Retrieved on 21 November 2014.
44. Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless weds Catriona Brown at Westminster Cathedral 3 October 2011
45. Mark Reckless MP Wedding, Kent Online, 3 October 2011
46. Mark Reckless the best kind of MP Dan Hannan, Telegraph Blog, 28 July 2008.

External links

• Mark Reckless MP Conservative Party official biog
• TheyWorkForYou Voting Record
• Public Whip Voting Record
• BBC Democracy Live MP Profile
• MP Website (old)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood 2010–2015	Succeeded by Kelly Tolhurst
Senedd Cymru
Preceded by William Graham	Member of the Senedd for South Wales East 2016 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Patrick O'Flynn	Economics Spokesman of the UK Independence Party 2015–2017	Succeeded by Patrick O'Flynn