Freddy Vachha
Freddy Vachha | |
---|---|
Leader of the UK Independence Party | |
Assumed office 22 June 2020 | |
Deputy | Pat Mountain |
Preceded by | Richard Braine Pat Mountain (interim) |
Personal details | |
Born | Freddy Vachha December 1957 (age 66) Bombay, Maharashtra, India |
Political party | UK Independence Party |
Spouse |
Julie Butler (m. 1991) |
Residence(s) | Chingford, London, England |
Alma mater | City of London Polytechnic Princeton University University of Bombay St. Xavier's College, Mumbai |
Freddy Vachha (born December 1957)[1] is a British businessman and politician who has served as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) since June 2020.
Early life
Freddy Vachha was born in Bombay, India, in December 1957.[2] Between 1977 and 1980, he worked as a private tutor in mathematics and physics in India. Between 1980 and 1981, he studied accounting and obtained a Diploma in Accountancy. In 1981, he worked at the accounting firm Ernst & Whinney as a trainee, where he remained until 1984. Between 1984 and 1995, he ran his own computer software company Digital Precision, developing software for the Sinclair QL.[3]
Vachha has Indian Parsi heritage.[4][5]
Political career
Vachha was the UKIP candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green in the 2015 general election, standing against Iain Duncan Smith who was serving as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the time. During a hustings event, he said that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was caused by mass immigration.[6]
Vachha was a candidate for the 2016 London Assembly election in the North East constituency but was not elected.[7] He stood as a candidate in Old Bexley and Sidcup in the 2017 general election, coming fourth.[8] He competed for one of London's seats in the 2019 European Parliament election[9] but was not elected. In the same year, he unsuccessfully ran for UKIP leader in that year's leadership election but came second to Richard Braine.[10] He co-ordinated the party's national campaign for the 2019 general election.[11][12]
He became leader of UKIP in June 2020, saying that the party "went astray quite a few years ago" and that under his leadership it would "return to our libertarian freedom-loving principles".[13][2]
References
- ^ http://www.heritageanddestiny.com/ukips-new-bombay-born-leader/
- ^ a b Read, Jonathon (22 June 2020). "UKIP's new leader - who lists Nazi Germany as interest - says party is 'back on track'". The New European. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "New Ukip leader's interesting CV". 22 June 2020.
- ^ Glanvill, Natalie (16 October 2014). "Indian-born Ukip candidate predicts defeat for Iain Duncan Smith". East London & West Essex Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ arZan (1 August 2019). "Freddy Vachha To Stand for Election As Leader of UK Independance Party". Parsi Khabar. Retrieved 24 June 2020.[unreliable source?]
- ^ Vale, Paul (28 April 2015). "Ukip Candidate Freddy Vachha Blames Mass Immigration For The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". HuffPost. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Election 2016: London Mayor and Assembly candidates". BBC News. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "Election results: How did your constituency vote?". Sky News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for London". BBC News. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "Richard Braine elected as UKIP leader". BBC News. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ Clark, Jonathan (22 November 2019). "UKIP Campaign Manager: If I had a time machine, I would stop us standing in Moray". [Northern Scot]]. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ Savage, Michael (8 October 2019). "On the stump: the campaign that shame forgot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ "New leader: 'Time for Ukip to get back to business'". BBC News. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.