Key interests and
achievements
Neil Hamilton’s
key political interests are the economy, low taxes,
entrepreneurship and, above all, the sovereignty of Parliament and
Britain’s national independence. Opposition to the EU is the thread
running through his whole political life. He joined the Anti-Common Market
League in 1967 whilst a pupil at the Amman Valley Grammar
School.
He is against the
Welfare State, believing people should decide for themselves how to
live, so long as they cause no significant harm to
others.
Personal
history
Born in 1949, he grew
up in a mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Both his grandfathers were coal
miners and his father rose to be NCB Chief Engineer for
Wales. He was educated
at Amman Valley Grammar School, University College of Wales,
Aberystwyth (BScEcon 1970, MScEcon 1973) and Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, (LL.M 1977).
Professional
background
He was called to the
Bar at the Middle Temple in 1979 and specialised in tax,
intellectual property, company law, trusts etc. Before becoming an
MP he was European and Parliamentary Affairs Director of the
Institute of Directors.
Political
history
He fought, as a
Conservative, Abertillery in February 1974, Bradford North in 1979
and was elected Conservative MP for Tatton in 1983. He was a member of the Treasury
Select Committee, a Government Whip, Corporate Affairs Minister at
the Department of Trade & Industry, responsible for the City,
Financial Services Industry, Insurance, Accountancy, Corporate
& Commercial Law, Financial Regulation, Fraud & Insider
Dealing, Monopolies & Mergers, European Trade Policy etc. He
spearheaded the Government's Deregulation Initiative and was a
Member of EU Council of Ministers, responsible for all aspects of
trade between Britain and Europe with special responsibility for
Eastern Europe, He was the UK's delegate to the G7 and UN
Conferences on Reconstruction of Eastern Europe.
He joined the
Anti-Common-Market League in 1967, UKIP in 2002 and was a member of
its National Executive Committee from 2011-2016. He was UKIP Deputy
Chairman 2013-2016 and Campaign Director in the European Parliament
elections 2014.