Matthew Richard Patten[1] (born 21 May 1962) is a former British politician, who represented the Brexit Party. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands between 2019 and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. [2] He had previously been a Conservative[3] councillor for Bradfield, Wix and Wrabness in Tendring District, Essex.[4]
Matthew Patten | |
|---|---|
| Member of the European Parliament for East Midlands | |
| In office 2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Emma McClarkin |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 May 1962 Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England |
| Other political affiliations | Brexit (2019–2021) Conservative (until 2019) |
Patten was once the Chief Executive of the cricket and disability sports charity The Lord's Taverners.[5] He was the Chief Executive for the social mobility charity Mayor's Fund for London from 2012 until 2018,[6] and spoke at the November 2017 ACEVO conference on the third sector.[7] In 2015, he called for a watchdog similar to Ofsted to "improve performance, prevent abuse and give confidence to funders and other stakeholders" within British charities.[8]
In the European Parliament he was appointed a member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, the Delegation for Relations with Iran and the Delegation to the EU-North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee.
He was the Brexit Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Clacton-on-Sea for the 2019 general election,[9] but withdrew when Nigel Farage announced the party would not contest Tory-held seats.[10] In 2021, he served briefly as campaign manager for London mayoral candidate Laurence Fox of the Reclaim Party.[11] He is the Political & Communications Director of the think tank, Centre for Social Justice.
References edit
- ^ Chaplain, Chloe (23 May 2019). "Here are all the Brexit Party candidates standing in the EU elections". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ Owen, Claire (19 February 2008). "Frinton: Portfolio holder quizzed over toilets". Clacton and Frinton Gazette. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ Dwan, James (23 April 2019). "Former Tendring councillor and charity boss unveiled as Brexit Party candidate". Clacton and Frinton Gazette. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ Brading, Wendy (27 May 2019). "Ex-councillor wins Brexit Party seat in European elections". Daily Gazette (Colchester). Retrieved 2 October 2019.
- ^ Sharma, Ruchira (23 April 2019). "Brexit Party candidates: Nigel Farage's latest batch of potential MEPs". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Patten, Matthew (17 November 2016). "Love or hate it, Brexit offers civil society the chance to tackle social injustice". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Patten, Matthew (3 September 2015). "The charity sector is crying out for a Big Bang". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Party, The Brexit (5 August 2019). "CANDIDATE ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations, Matthew Patten! Our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Mid #Folkestone and #Hythe.pic.twitter.com/Haa2blRJ71". @brexitparty_uk. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
- ^ Proctor, Kate; Wearden, Graeme (11 November 2019). "Brexit party will not contest 317 Tory-won seats, Farage says". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ^ Steerpike (29 April 2021). "Will Laurence Fox top Count Binface?". The Spectator. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
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