Craig Mackinlay

Craig Mackinlay JP MP (born 1966) is a British businessman and politician.

Initially a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Mackinlay served as deputy leader of UKIP in 1997, before joining the Conservative Party in 2005. Mackinley stood as the Conservative candidate in Kent at the inaugural police and crime commissioner elections in 2012 and was selected in July 2014 as the Conservative candidate for South Thanet at the 2015 general election.

In May 2015, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet, defeating UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Early life

Of Scottish heritage, Mackinlay was born in Chatham and raised in Kent. After attending Rainham Mark Grammar School, he went up to the University of Birmingham, where he read zoology and comparative physiology. After graduating with the degree of BSc, he qualified as a chartered accountant (FCA) and as a chartered tax adviser (CTA) and is now partner in a Kent firm.

Mackinlay now mainly lives in Ramsgate.

Nigel Farage

Nigel Paul Farage (/ˈfærɑːʒ/; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and former commodity broker. He is the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), having held the position since November 2010, and previously from September 2006 to November 2009. Since 1999 he has been a Member of the European Parliament for South East England. He co-chairs the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (formerly "Europe of Freedom and Democracy") group. He has been noted for his sometimes controversial speeches in the European Parliament and has strongly criticised the euro.

Farage was a founding member of UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. After unsuccessfully campaigning in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he was elected MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election. He was subsequently re-elected in 2004, 2009 and, most recently, at the 2014 European Parliament Election.