Rupert Matthews

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This article is about the British writer and politician. For the Australian rules footballer, see Rupe Matthews.

Rupert Matthews
Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner
Assumed office
13 May 2021
Preceded byThe Lord Bach
Member of the European Parliament
for East Midlands
In office
29 June 2017 – 1 July 2019
Preceded byAndrew Lewer
Succeeded byBill Newton Dunn
Personal details
Born (1961-12-05) 5 December 1961 (age 62)
Nationality
Esher Grammar School
Websitewww.rupertmatthews.org.uk

Rupert Oliver Matthews (born 5 December 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner since 2021. He previously served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands from June 2017 until his term ended on 1 July 2019, and has authored books on the paranormal.[1]

Career

Matthews was educated at

paranormal activity, guides to the UK and children's stories. Matthews is the editorial director and a shareholder of Bretwalda Books.[3]

Matthews has also run an online course about the paranormal for the International Metaphysical University,[4] on whose website he was described as a 'Professor' until mid-January 2012.[5]

Politics

He served as a councillor for St Mark's ward in Surbiton in Kingston upon Thames,[6] and at the 1997 general election he stood for the Conservatives in the safe Labour constituency of Bootle.

Matthews was selected as a Conservative candidate for the

party list for the East Midlands
. He was not elected.

On 12 October 2011,

UKIP and remained an MEP;[11] he was re-elected in 2014.[12]

For the 2014 European Parliament election Matthews was again placed third on the Conservative party list for the East Midlands and, again, missed being elected.

In 2014, Matthews took up a position as National Campaigns Director at Better Off Out. He led Better Off Out's campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, liaising with the official campaign (Vote Leave) as well as with Leave.EU and Grassroots Out. During this time, he supervised the production of leaflets, posters and other campaign materials as well as organising their distribution to the public in the run-up to the 2016 European Union membership referendum.[13]

He finally became an MEP for the East Midlands on 29 June 2017, replacing Andrew Lewer after Lewer was elected to the House of Commons. Matthews was not elected in the 2019 European Parliament election.

He reportedly believed at one time that the

panzer (tank) division be sent to London were the situation to warrant it.[14]

Matthews was elected in 2021 as Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner for the Conservative Party, succeeding the incumbent, The Lord Bach, who was stepping down.[15][16]

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ^ Chris Cook "Paranormal expert set to become Tory MEP", Financial Times, 28 October 2011
  2. ^ Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1997
  3. ^ "Rupert Matthews - Party Conference". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  4. ^ International Metaphysical University page; includes a comprehensive list of books by Matthews currently in print.
  5. ^ Michael Crick "Unconventional Tory and his paranormal activities", Channel 4 News, 24 January 2012
  6. ^ "Archive news from the Surrey Comet". www.surreycomet.co.uk.
  7. ^ Barrett, Matthew (12 October 2011). "Roger Helmer MEP to resign from the European Parliament". ConservativeHome.
  8. ^ "UFO expert to take seat in European parliament". This is Leicestershire. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ "Kredittkort test". Rogerhelmer.com. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Conservative MEP Roger Helmer delays resignation", BBC News, 31 December 2011
  11. ^ "Conservative MEP Roger Helmer joins UKIP". BBC News. 3 March 2012.
  12. ^ Quinn, Ben (3 March 2012). "Conservative MEP switches to Ukip". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Rupert Matthews MEP, Author at BrexitCentral". BrexitCentral. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ 'Bagehot' "The newest Conservative member of the European Parliament, and his fears of German invasion", The Economist, 14 October 2011
  15. ^ Martin, Dan (2 March 2019). "MEP Rupert Matthews becomes Conservative Leicestershire police and crime commissioner election candidate". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  16. ^ "Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner election result". Leicester Mercury. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.

External links

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