Neil Hamilton (politician)

Mostyn Neil Hamilton (born 9 March 1949) is a British former barrister and politician who has been leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) since 2020.

In 1960 he moved to Ammanford.

His father was a chief engineer for the National Coal Board.

His grandfathers were coal miners.

He grew up in Ammanford in Carmarthenshire and joined the Conservative Party in 1964, at the age of 15.

Hamilton attended Amman Valley Grammar School in Ammanford.

While at Aberystwyth, he was active in the Federation of Conservative Students; he was a member between 1968 and 1974.

He received a BScEcon degree in economics and politics from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1970, and an MScEcon degree in economics and politics in 1975.

At the 1970 Conservative Party conference, Hamilton called for mass privatisation.

The following year, he opposed the plan for Britain to join the European Communities.

In the early 1970s, Hamilton was the founder of the Eldon League, a right-wing social organisation given to having picnics and dinners 'and having a good time'.

He appointed himself its "Grand Imperial Prior" and called for the abolition of the internal combustion engine and plastic.

In 1972, after several years' membership, Hamilton was elected to the executive council of the Conservative Monday Club.

In 1973, as a representative of the Federation of Conservative Students, Hamilton attended a conference of the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (MSI).

Hamilton went on to study at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he attained a postgraduate law degree.

He left the Club in 1973, and stood as chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students against David Davis, but lost.

Hamilton was a teacher at St John's College in Southsea between 1973 and 1976.

In his spare time he studied for his bar practice exam.

Hamilton stood as the Conservative parliamentary candidate in the February 1974 general election in Abertillery and in the 1979 general election in Bradford North, but failed on both occasions.

He also taught constitutional law at Hatfield Polytechnic between September 1978 and July 1982.

From September 1979, Hamilton practised as a barrister.

He specialised in taxation, trust and property law.

He was the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1983 to 1997 and a UKIP Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales from 2016 to 2021.

Hamilton was elected to the House of Commons in the 1983 general election.

He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Corporate Affairs by Prime Minister John Major in 1992.

In 1994, The Guardian alleged that Hamilton had taken cash payments in exchange for asking questions in Parliament.

Hamilton sued The Guardian for libel, but settled on the day of the trial.

The Guardian published a headline branding him "A Liar and a Cheat".

The cash-for-questions affair enquiry in 1997 found that Hamilton had taken bribes.

He subsequently lost a libel case on the matter.

Hamilton became widely associated with sleaze, and was forced to resign his ministerial role.

He was defeated by an independent candidate, Martin Bell, in the 1997 general election.

He left the Conservative Party in 2002 and joined UKIP.

In 2011, he returned to politics and was elected to the National Executive Committee of UKIP.

Following his election to the National Assembly for Wales, he was UKIP Assembly Group Leader from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2019 to 2021.

He became leader of UKIP Wales in 2016.

In September 2020, Hamilton was named acting leader of UKIP, following the suspension from the party of the previous leader, Freddy Vachha.

Hamilton was defeated at the 2021 Senedd election.

In October 2021, Hamilton was elected UKIP leader.

Hamilton was born in Fleur-de-Lis, a Gwent pit village near Blackwood, Wales.