Jill Seymour
Member of the European Parliament
for West Midlands
In office
1 July 2014  1 July 2019
Preceded byMike Nattrass
Succeeded byMartin Daubney
UKIP portfolios
2014–2018Transport
Personal details
Born (1958-05-08) 8 May 1958
Cosford, Shropshire, England
Political partyUK Independence Party (until 2019)
Brexit Party (April–May 2019)

Jill Seymour (born 8 May 1958) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands from 2014 to 2019. Elected for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in 2014,[1] in April 2019 she defected to the Brexit Party.[2] Despite her defection, she was not selected as a Brexit Party candidate for the 2019 European Parliament elections, and ceased to remain an MEP on 26 May 2019.

Political career

Jill Seymour joined UKIP in 2002. She worked for the MEP Nikki Sinclaire before the latter left Ukip.[3] Seymour resigned from UKIP's NEC in 2011 citing personal reasons.[4]

In 2015 she was criticized for renting an office in Shropshire from her husband Brian with taxpayers' money. The Independent commented that there was no suggestion that the arrangement was against European Parliament rules.[5] The arrangement would not however been acceptable for a member of the UK Parliament.

She stood unsuccessfully for the UK Parliament in 2015, coming third at The Wrekin,[6] but she did not stand in the 2017 election.[7]

Transport spokesperson

After becoming an MEP, Seymour was appointed UKIP's transport spokesperson, serving until 2018 when she expressed unease about the direction the party was taking. As transport spokesperson Seymour was pro-car and anti-High Speed 2. In 2015, she became patron of the Alliance of British Drivers.[8]

References

  1. "Ukip rocks political rivals in European elections success". Shropshire Star. Midland News Association. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  2. "MEP Jill Seymour defects to Brexit Party". 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  3. Junius (8 October 2009). "The ballad of Seymour & Farage or how Junius learned to stop worrying and love Nigel's tie". Blogspot.
  4. Junius (24 May 2011). "UKIP: More Bannerman, Jill Seymour resigns from NEC & Gerard crashes out". Blogspot.
  5. Stone, Jon (26 March 2015). "Ukip MEP Jill Seymour under fire for renting office from her husband with taxpayers cash". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022.
  6. "Election 2015: The Wrekin". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016.
  7. "Election 2017: The Wrekin". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017.
  8. Seymour, Jill (3 November 2015). "Motoring group appoints Jill". jillseymourukip.org.


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