Rupert Matthews

Rupert Oliver Matthews (born 5 December 1961) is an English author on the paranormal,[1] and a Conservative Party politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands from June 2017 until his term ended on 1 July 2019.

This article is about the British writer and politician. For the Australian rules footballer, see Rupe Matthews.

Rupert Matthews
Member of the European Parliament
for East Midlands
In office
29 June 2017 – 1 July 2019
Preceded byAndrew Lewer
Succeeded byBill Newton Dunn
Personal details
Born (1961-12-05) 5 December 1961
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
EducationEsher Grammar School

Career

Matthews was educated at Esher Grammar School and worked as a freelance writer and journalist.[2] He has written over 170 books on history, ghosts, cryptozoology, UFOs, paranormal activity, guides to the UK and children's stories. Matthews is the editorial director and a shareholder of Bretwalda Books.[3]

Matthews has also run an online course about the paranormal for the International Metaphysical University,[4] on whose website he was described as a 'Professor' until mid-January 2012.[5]

Politics

He served as a councillor for St Mark's ward in Surbiton in Kingston upon Thames,[6] and in the 1997 general election he stood in the safe Labour seat of Bootle.

Matthews was selected as a Conservative candidate for the 2009 European Parliament election and was placed third on the Conservative party list for the East Midlands. He was not elected.

On 12 October 2011, MEP for the East Midlands region Roger Helmer, announced that he would resign from the European Parliament at the end of the year.[7] Helmer expected to be replaced by Matthews who had been next on the Conservative party list in the East Midlands.[8]

However, after there was uncertainty whether the Conservative Party would approve Matthews as the new MEP, Helmer announced he would delay standing down until the position was clarified and Matthews confirmed as his successor.[9] The Conservative party was reported to be looking into golliwog dolls featuring on the front cover of a book on political correctness published by Bretwalda Books. It was later reported that Matthews was not personally involved in publishing the book.[10] In March 2012, Helmer defected to UKIP and remained an MEP;[11] he was re-elected in 2014.[12]

For the 2014 European Parliament election Matthews was again placed third on the Conservative party list for the East Midlands and, again, missed being elected.

In 2014, Matthews took up a position as National Campaigns Director at Better Off Out. He led Better Off Out's campaign for Britain to Leave the European Union, liaising with the official campaign (Vote Leave) as well as with Leave.EU and Grassroots Out. During this time, he supervised the production of leaflets, posters and other campaign materials as well as organising their distribution to the public in the run up to the 2016 European Union membership referendum.[13]

Matthews finally became an MEP for the East Midlands on 29 June 2017, replacing Andrew Lewer after Lewer was elected to the House of Commons. He was not elected in the 2019 European Parliament election.

Matthews reportedly thinks the Treaty of Lisbon could enable the European Commission to invade Britain should the country ever attempt to leave the European Union, or to request a German panzer (tank) division be sent to London if the situation should warrant it.[14]

Matthews is the Conservative candidate for Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner in 2020.[15]

Selected bibliography
  • Monster Mysteries with Bernard Long (Hove, Wayland, 1988 ISBN 1-85210-354-X)
  • The First Settlements with Bernard Long (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-769-3)
  • Alien Encounters (Chartwell Books, Inc., 2009 ISBN 978-0-7858-2355-1)

References
  1. Chris Cook "Paranormal expert set to become Tory MEP", Financial Times, 28 October 2011
  2. Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1997
  3. http://www.rupertmatthews.org/index.php?pageLink=Conference
  4. International Metaphysical University page; includes a comprehensive list of books by Matthews currently in print.
  5. Michael Crick "Unconventional Tory and his paranormal activities", Channel 4 News, 24 January 2012
  6. Council Election 1998 Surrey Comet 9 May 1998
  7. Barrett, Matthew (12 October 2011). "Roger Helmer MEP to resign from the European Parliament". ConservativeHome.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Kredittkort test". Rogerhelmer.com. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  10. "Conservative MEP Roger Helmer delays resignation" BBC 31 December 2011
  11. "Conservative MEP Roger Helmer joins UKIP". BBC News. 3 March 2012.
  12. Quinn, Ben (3 March 2012). "Conservative MEP switches to Ukip". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  13. "Rupert Matthews MEP, Author at BrexitCentral". BrexitCentral. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. 'Bagehot' "The newest Conservative member of the European Parliament, and his fears of German invasion ", The Economist, 14 October 2011
  15. Martin, Dan (2 March 2019). "MEP Rupert Matthews becomes Conservative Leicestershire police and crime commissioner election candidate". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
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