The Lord Mackinlay of Richborough | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 23 August 2024 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forSouth Thanet | |
| In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Laura Sandys |
| Succeeded by | Polly Billington (East Thanet[a]) |
| Member ofMedway Council for River | |
| In office 3 May 2007 – 7 May 2015[4] | |
| Deputy Leader of theUK Independence Party | |
| In office September 1997 – 22 January 2000 | |
| Leader | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Graham Booth |
| Leader of the UK Independence Party | |
| Acting 6 August 1997 – September 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Alan Sked |
| Succeeded by | Michael Holmes |
| Treasurer of theUK Independence Party | |
| In office 3 September 1993 – 6 August 1997 | |
| Leader | Michael Holmes |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Craig Mackinlay (1966-10-07)7 October 1966 (age 59) Chatham, Kent, England |
| Political party |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
Craig Mackinlay, Baron Mackinlay of Richborough,JP (born 7 October 1966), is a BritishConservative Party politician and businessman.[5] He wasMember of Parliament (MP) forSouth Thanet from 2015 to 2024.
Initially a member of theUK Independence Party (UKIP), Mackinlay served as thedeputy leader of UKIP from 1997 to 2000 and the actingleader of UKIP in 1997,[6] before joining theConservative Party in 2005.[7]
In the2015 general election, Mackinlay was elected to theHouse of Commons in South Thanet a Conservative candidate, defeatingNigel Farage, then leader of UKIP.[8] As an MP, Mackinlay was a member of theBrexit Select Committee and theCommon Sense Group.
Mackinlay underwent a quadruple amputation following an infection ofsepsis in 2023. He stood down as an MP at the2024 general election and was appointed to theHouse of Lords.
Of Scottish heritage, Mackinlay was born on 7 October 1966 inChatham and raised inKent. His parents, Colin and Margaret Mackinlay, were both born in Kent. After attendingRainham Mark Grammar School, he studiedzoology andcomparative physiology at theUniversity of Birmingham, graduating with aBachelor of Science (BSc) degree. He qualified as achartered accountant (FCA) and achartered tax adviser (CTA), and later became apartner in a Kent firm.[9][10]
Mackinlay first became engaged in politics after observing the impact of Britain's membership of theEuropean Exchange Rate Mechanism on clients and friends who were going bankrupt as a result of soaring interest rates.[11] After hearingAlan Sked, a professor at theLondon School of Economics, speak on a BBC politics programme,[12] he was persuaded to stand at the1992 general election as anindependent in support of theAnti-Federalist League, receiving 248 votes inGillingham.[13]
When the Anti-Federalist League evolved into the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Mackinlay was appointed its founding treasurer[14] and Vice-Chairman. He stood again in Gillingham at the1997 general election, receiving 590 votes.[15]
In July 1997, Sked resigned as UKIP leader, nominating Mackinlay as his successor.[16] Mackinlay decided that the only way to keep the party going was to rework its constitution and hold a leadership election. Mackinlay stood in the election againstMichael Holmes[17] and Gerald Roberts. Holmes, with the backing ofNigel Farage, easily won and appointed Mackinlay as his deputy.[16]
After theEuropean Parliament election in 1999, Holmes dismissed Mackinlay and Party Secretary Tony Scholefield at a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which prompted an immediatevote of no confidence in Holmes, who agreed to resign the following month. After extensive wrangling,Jeffrey Titford was elected as the new party leader; Mackinlay stepped down as deputy, but remained on its NEC.[16]
Mackinlay remained active in UKIP, standing inTotnes at the2001 general election, at which he received 6.1% of the vote,[18] then back again in Gillingham in2005, where he polled 2.6%.[15] He also stood unsuccessfully in the1994,1999 and2004 European elections.[19]
In July 2005, Mackinlay defected from UKIP to theConservative Party.[6] He was elected as a Conservative councillor onMedway Council in 2007 and re-elected in May 2011 with an increased majority.[20][21]
In 2010, he fell out withKent Police overSpecial Constable David Craggs, who was advised that there would be no conflict with him standing for election to Medway Council but, after being elected as a councillor, was informed that he could not hold both roles.[22] In May 2011, Mackinlay was appointed a member of KentPolice Authority.[23]
In June 2012, Mackinlay was selected as the Conservative candidate for the office ofKent Police and Crime Commissioner. In theNovember 2012 county-wide poll, he lost to the former Kent Police Authority chairAnn Barnes, by a 114,137–60,248 margin, on a turnout of just under 16%.[24]
In 2015, Mackinlay was elected asMember of Parliament forSouth Thanet at thegeneral election, where he stood against UKIP leader Nigel Farage and comedianAl Murray, among others.[7][25] ConservativeLaura Sandys had represented the constituency in theHouse of Commons since the2010 general election and retired after one term in Parliament.
In October 2017, Mackinlay said "unemployed young people from Glasgow should get on their bikes and work with gorgeous EU women on farms in the south of England after Brexit." Labour MSPJames Kelly responded that the comments were "abhorrent and offensive", whileJenny Gilruth MSP said that the comments were "sexist and patronising".[26]
In June 2018 it was reported that Mackinlay had been found to have twice breached parliament's rules due to a potential financial interest, according to a decision by itsstandards watchdog. The MP had used his position to press for the reopening of an airport from which his company had planned to run low-cost flights. Mackinlay responded that he no longer had plans for running flights fromManston Airport and that there "was no suggestion he benefited financially from raising the matter in the Commons."[27]
In the House of Commons, Mackinlay sat on theCommittee on Exiting the European Union. He has previously sat on theWork and Pensions Select Committee andEuropean Scrutiny Committee.[28][29]
Following an interim report on the connections betweencolonialism and properties now in the care of theNational Trust, including links withhistoric slavery, Mackinlay was among the signatories of a letter in November 2020 toThe Telegraph from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured bycultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".[30]
Mackinlay leads theNet Zero Scrutiny Group, a group created in 2021 of about 20 Conservative MPs who argue against the Westminster consensus to reducegreenhouse gas emissions tonet zero by 2050 regardless of the economic cost. They have argued forfracking in the United Kingdom to be resumed and cast doubt on the viability and desirability of a plannedphase-out of fossil fuel vehicles.[31][32]
Mackinlay initially planned to contest the new seat ofEast Thanet, which contained the majority of his former seat of South Thanet, at the2024 general election,[33] but announced on 24 May 2024 that he would not do so, owing to his ongoing rehabilitation and recovery from a severe case of sepsis that required the amputation of his lower arms and legs.[34][35]
In 2016–17, the2015 general election party spending investigation revealed that the Conservative Party had spent many thousands of pounds centrally oncampaign buses to transport activists, and hotel accommodation for the activists, who went to campaign in marginal constituencies, including South Thanet. The expenditure on the buses was declared by the Conservative Party on its national declaration of "Campaign Spending", but in some cases the hotel accommodation was not declared at all as election spending when it should have been. In addition, there was controversy about whether the expenditure, both on the buses and the accommodation, should have been declared on the declarations of expenditure for the constituency made by each candidate'selection agent. Kent Police began an investigation into the spending returns of Mackinlay following theChannel 4 report.[citation needed]
In a court case on 1 June 2016, brought by Mackinlay and his election agent Nathan Gray,[36] District Judge Barron granted more time for investigation saying "In this case, the allegations are far-reaching and the consequences of a conviction would be of a local and national significance with the potential for election results being declared void."[37]
On 14 March 2017, it was reported that Mackinlay had been interviewed under caution by officers investigating the allegations.[38] The day after,Channel 4 News published leaked emails, alleging thatTheresa May's Political SecretaryStephen Parkinson, and Chris Brannigan, Director of Government Relations at theCabinet Office, also took a key role in Mackinlay's campaign.[39] On 18 April 2017, Kent police passed Mackinlay's file to theCrown Prosecution Service (CPS) to be considered for prosecution.[40] The CPS decided on 2 June 2017 that it was in the public interest to authorise charges under theRepresentation of the People Act 1983 against three people: Mackinlay, his agent Nathan Gray, and a party activist, Marion Little.[41][42] Appearing atWestminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017, the three pleaded not guilty and were released on unconditional bail pending an appearance atSouthwark Crown Court on 1 August 2017.[43][44]
Later in August 2017, a trial date of 14 May 2018 was set for Mackinlay on charges relating to his 2015 general election expenses, alongside Little and Gray.[45] The trial eventually started on 15 October 2018.[46] Gray was acquitted in December 2018,[47] and Mackinlay was acquitted on 9 January 2019.[48] Little was convicted of two counts relating to falsifying election expenses and was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence and fined £5,000;[49] the court concluded that Mackinlay and Gray had signed documents falsified by Little "in good faith, not knowing what she had done".[50]
Mackinlay was appointed ajustice of the peace on theNorth Kent bench in 2006.[23] Afreeman of theCity of London,[51] he served as atrustee of three Kent charities:Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust,Foord Almshouses in Rochester, and Medway Sculpture Trust.[52][53]
After standing down as an MP, Mackinlay was nominated for alife peerage in the2024 Dissolution Honours.[54][55][56] CreatedBaron Mackinlay of Richborough, of Rochester in the County of Kent, on 23 August 2024,[57] he wasintroduced to the House of Lords on 17 October. He pledged to use his position to campaign for greater awareness of sepsis and to improve the quality of prosthetics offered to amputees.[58]
Mackinlay married Katalin "Kati" Madi, a Hungarian pharmacist, in 2011. They have a daughter.[10][59]
In September 2023, Mackinlay developed a very rapidly progressing case ofsepsis and was placed in an inducedcoma for 16 days. He underwent a quadrupleamputation of his lower limbs on 1 December atSt Thomas' Hospital in London. Mackinlay was fitted with prosthetic limbs and expressed a desire to be known as the first "bionic MP".[33][59] He received a rarestanding ovation when he returned to the House of Commons on 22 May 2024.[60]
{{cite web}}:Check|url= value (help)onetime deputy leader of the UK Independence Party, Craig Mackinlay, has left the party after 12 years to join the Tories
he had no interest in politics until he observed at close quarters the effects of Britain's short lived and ill-fated membership of theEU's Exchange Rate Mechanism.
He heard Sked on a BBC politics programme, telephoned and attended a meeting at the LSE. He too was dragooned into standing for the 1992 election.
Craig Mackinlay, as the Party Treasurer...
he resigned the party leadership, naming Craig Mackinlay as his successor... Holmes accepted the leadership and immediately appointed Mackinlay as his deputy
Councillor Craig Mackinlay, who also represents the River Ward, said there were no regulations preventing special constables from serving on the council and said he knew of three who are serving MPs.
{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Leader of theUK Independence Party Acting 1997 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Deputy Leader of theUK Independence Party 1997–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSouth Thanet 2015–2024 | Succeeded by |
