Patrick O'Flynn

Patrick James O'Flynn (born 29 August 1965) is an English journalist and SDP Politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England region from 2014 to 2019.

Patrick O'Flynn
Member of the European Parliament for the East of England
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019[1][2]
Leader	Paul Nuttall Steve Crowther (Acting) Henry Bolton Gerard Batten
Preceded by	Robert Sturdy
Succeeded by	Richard Tice
Personal details
Born	29 August 1965 Cambridge, England
Political party	Social Democratic Party (2018–present) UK Independence Party (before 2018)
Alma mater	King's College, Cambridge City, University of London
Other UKIP offices UKIP Media and Sport Spokesperson In office 1 December 2016 – 27 July 2017 Leader Paul Nuttall Preceded by position established Succeeded by ~ Special Political Advisor for the Leader of the UK Independence Party In office 28 November 2016 – 27 July 2017 Leader Paul Nuttall Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Jonathan Arnott UKIP Economics Spokesman In office 7 April 2017 – 27 July 2017 Leader Paul Nuttall Preceded by Mark Reckless In office 24 July 2014 – 18 August 2015 Leader Nigel Farage Preceded by Steven Woolfe Succeeded by Mark Reckless

He was elected for the UK Independence Party but defected to the Social Democratic Party in November 2018. Since 2019, he has regularly written for The Spectator.[3]

Early life and journalism

O'Flynn read Economics at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1987. He subsequently earned a Diploma in Journalism from City, University of London.[4] He previously worked as Chief Political Commentator and then Political Editor of the Daily Express.[5]

Political career

O'Flynn was the UK Independence Party Economic Spokesman until 19 May 2015.[6]

He was the UKIP candidate in Cambridge at the 2015 general election. He came fifth, with 5.2% of the vote.[7] After the disappointing election result he described UKIP leader Nigel Farage as "snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive".[8]

He was the running-mate for Lisa Duffy in the September 2016 UK Independence Party leadership election.[9]

He left the UKIP frontbench in July 2017, believing that the party no longer supported his centrist economic policies.[10]

O'Flynn joined the SDP in November 2018. He cited UKIP leader Gerard Batten's appointment of the far-right anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) as an adviser as a key reason for his departure from the party. He said of his decision to join the SDP: "like many on the communitarian wing of [UKIP], I have decided to join the resurgent SDP, which campaigned for Brexit during the referendum and espouses broad and moderate pro-nation state political values that I – and I believe many of our voters from 2014 – will be delighted to endorse."[11] In defecting, O'Flynn became the first MEP to sit in the European Parliament for the SDP (though in 1984 Michael Gallagher MEP had joined the original SDP).

O'Flynn stood as the SDP candidate in the 2019 Peterborough by-election,[12] but received only 135 votes (0.4%), and lost to Lisa Forbes. O'Flynn narrowly avoided a repeat of the May 1990 Bootle by-election by beating the Monster Raving Loony Party candidate who polled 112.[13]

References

1. "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
2. "Key dates ahead". BBC News Online. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
3. "Patrick O'Flynn - The Spectator columnists & writers". The Spectator. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
4. "Patrick James O'FLYNN". Debrett's People of Today. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
5. "UKIP appoints Express journalist Patrick O'Flynn as director of comms". Retrieved 3 April 2014.
6. "UKIP is delighted to announce that party membership has reached yet another record high". United Kingdom Independence Party. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
7. "Cambridge - 2015 Election Results". UK Parliament - General Elections Online. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
8. Rowena Mason (14 May 2015). "Nigel Farage is a 'snarling, thin-skinned and aggressive' man, says campaign chief". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
9. "Lisa Duffy battles to lead UKIP". BBC News. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
10. "Patrick O'Flynn quits UKIP front bench over party's direction". BBC News. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
11. Stone, Jon (27 November 2018). "Ukip MEP Patrick O'Flynn quits party in protest at growing Tommy Robinson links". The Independent. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
12. "Peterborough by-election:Final list of 15 candidates revealed". Peterborough Telegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
13. Leishman, Fiona (7 June 2019). "Live Peterborough by-election 2019 updates: Results, reaction, national picture and full coverage". Cambridgeshire Live.