Former UKIP activist to stand against Farage in Buckingham!

Geoff Howard is a former UKIP member, councillor and activist. He is also an author.

He has formally announced his intention to stand against Farage in the General Election.

Here are the reasons why:

It is my intention to stand as an Independent against Nigel Farage and John Bercow in the Buckingham constituency in the forthcoming General Election, I aim to stand as a: LEAVE-THE-EU - ALLIANCE candidate.

I have attached a copy of my personal details that I provided to the 'Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser'. The newspaper published an article containing the majority of this information in their newspaper dated Friday 25th December 2009.

You asked me to provide you with comments relating to my experiences with Nigel Farage and UKIP. Here they are!

Immediately before joining UKIP I was Chairman of Slough Conservative Party and I was a very experienced Slough Borough Councillor. I was already the Cabinet Member responsible for Resources in a coalition administration made up of Conservatives, Liberals, Liberal Democrats, and Independents. We were all united against Labour.

When I joined UKIP I was introduced to Nigel Farage, so he was aware of who I was. At that time he was not Leader of UKIP.

When I 'crossed the floor' to become a UKIP councillor I retained my Cabinet position. For three years, until May 2008, I was the most senior UKIP Councillor in the country but heard nothing from nobody in UKIP in relation to this. My vast experience in Local Government was not utilised one iota. I was never contacted by Nigel Farage which, to my mind, showed extremely poor leadership qualities, especially as we were both in the South-East region of UKIP.

I wrote articles to the UKIP magazine in relation to my prominent role as a UKIP Councillor in taking on the Government over Slough Borough Council issues relating to population and business rates rebates. None of these articles were published.

I stood for UKIP in the Slough Constituency in the 2005 General Election. I used thousands of pounds of my own money to finance my campaign and I achieved the highest percentage votes of all UKIP candidates in Berkshire. I heard not a word from Nigel Farage which again, to my mind, showed extremely poor leadership qualities.

I attended a UKIP South-West Spring Conference in Exeter a couple of years ago and rented a stall from which I sold copies of a synopsis of a book that I have written on Asylum and Immigration. I was standing and applauding Nigel Farage's speech to Conference and, as he descended from the stage and walked through the hall, he passed literally a few feet away from me at the back of the hall and was directly in my view. He could not have failed to recognise me but he ignored me. He obviously knew that I was attending the Conference and had rented a stall, but he did not make an appearance at my stall or any others, and showed no interest in them. Again, to my mind, his attitude demonstrated extremely poor leadership qualities.

I was Chairman of the Slough and Windsor Branch of UKIP for four years. I had no recognition of this from NIgel Farage, again showing a lack of leadership qualities.

I was one of the guest speakers in Woodbridge, Suffolk at a UKIP conference on Immigration organised by John West. Nigel Farage attended in the afternoon to give a closing speech but never thanked myself or, to my knowledge, other guest speakers personally. I believe this was another example of extremely poor leadership qualities.

My knowledge on Asylum and Immigration was never utilised by UKIP, even though Gerald Batten, spokesperson for UKIP on Immigration, attended the conference on Immigration in Woodbridge.

I applied to stand as a prospective UKIP MEP for the London Region for last year's European Elections. I applied to London because I believed that my vast experience in Slough was of more use to London than to the South-East region. The selection meeting in London, before members, was well organised and I had no objections in the way it was conducted. However, an ugly situation arose during the balloting of members, in that Gerard Batten stated that he had evidence that one of the candidates had obtained a membership list and was actively seeking votes for himself: this was against the rules. Gerald Batten e-mailed me and the other candidates to inform us that he had lodged an objection to the actions of the rogue candidate and wanted disciplinary action taken against him. I heard nothing further on this matter.

Presumably, because Gerard Batten achieved No 1 on the list he was no longer bothered. It would appear that no disciplinary action was taken against the rogue candidate as he came No 3 on the list, behind Marta Andreasen. However, when she opted to take the No 2 position in the South-East region, the rogue candidate became No 2 on the list. Presumably, therefore, if anything happens to Gerald Batten then he would automatically become UKIP's MEP for London.

I was thoroughly frustrated with the leadership of UKIP by this time and stood as an Independent for the Jury Team in the European Elections.

I have come to the conclusion that UKIP is a one-issue (anti-EU) party and will never be anything else. When I joined UKIP I was encouraged by soundbites by Farage and others within the party that UKIP was striving to achieve recognition at Local Government and National Government level. I now firmly believe that all this is a sham, and that UKIP represents itself at local and national level merely to keep the party in the minds of people ready for the next European Elections.

I would greatly appreciate it if you are able to help me in any way in my fight against Farage and Bercow.

Best Wishes

Geoff Howard

William Geoffrey Howard, J.P.; B.Ed. (Hons.)
(known as Geoff Howard)

Standing as an Independent LEAVE THE EU Alliance Candidate – I have been a member of the Conservative Party and of UKIP. I became disillusioned with both parties because of their hypocrisy and the number of dishonest M.P.’s/M.E. P.’s in their ranks who have ripped off the public in relation to expenses.

I live in Eton Wick, Windsor, only an hour’s drive from Buckingham

Age - 61 years

Former Head of Department in a Buckinghamshire Secondary School.

Played rugby for Buckinghamshire.

Own business for 24 years in Slough.

Serving Magistrate for 16 years - Chair of the Bench for Adult and Youth Courts.

Slough Borough Councillor for 14 years.

Cabinet Member for Resources for 4 years in a Coalition Administration of Tories, Liberals, Liberal Democrats, and Independents.

Elected Councillor responsible for suing the Government in the High Court for a ‘Rebate of Business Rates’. The Council won the case and recovered almost £1 million.

Elected Councillor responsible for a ‘Population Campaign’ against the Government in relation to a severe shortage of Government grant monies for Slough. I attended a number of meetings at the House of Commons with Government ministers in relation to this matter.

Chair of Governors of a primary school in Slough.

Member of the Governing Body of Slough Grammar School.

Chair of the Management Committee of a youth club in Slough.

Former Chairman of a Hellenic League Football Team.

A Vice-Chairman of Slough Rugby Club.

Member of Rotary for over 20 years – Helping to raise money for cancer charities and other charities.

I sued Thames Water very recently (Daily Mail 21st October 2009) for harassment and won damages from them in Court. I am possibly the first person in the country to achieve such a result against a utilities company.

End of statement.

Mr Howard offered his full support to UKIP but was met with indifference and hostility from Farage and his clique. Is it any wonder he gave up and walked away?

Yet again another talented UKIPPER was driven out both by Farage's contempt for the membership and his TOTAL lack of interest in promoting true talent within UKIP.

Farage cannot be allowed to stand against Bercow unchallenged. For Farage to contest the seat as an anti-sleaze candidate is the height of hypocrisy.

The man is corrupt. The words decency, integrity and honesty are alien to Farage and his clique.

Please give Mr Howard your full support. He can be reached via GLW or this blog. All offers of help and support will be passed on to him.

Also see: LINK