Steven Woolfe

Steven Marcus Woolfe (born 6 October 1967) is a British barrister, writer and commentator. He is currently the Director of the Centre for Migration & Economic Prosperity[1] a research think tank studying population and immigration into the UK, Europe and US. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2014 until 2019. From 2014 he was a UKIP MEP but resigned in October 2016.He remained Independent until July 2019. He is not a member of any political party or holds any political office.

For other people with similar names, see Steven Wolf (disambiguation).

Steven Woolfe
Woolfe in 2013
Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
Preceded byRobert Atkins
Succeeded byDavid Bull
UKIP portfolios
2014Economics
2015–2016Immigration
Personal details
Born (1967-10-06) 6 October 1967
Moss Side, Manchester, England
Political partyIndependent (since 2016)
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (2000–2010)
UKIP (2010–2016)
EducationSt. Bede's College, Manchester
Alma materAberystwyth University;
City Law School

He was elected to UKIP's National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2011 and was elected at the 2014 European Parliament election. He later contested Stockport as the UKIP candidate at the 2015 general election.

Woolfe was considered a frontrunner in UKIP's September 2016 leadership election but was excluded from the race after submitting his nomination late. After Diane James resigned from the party leadership, he stood in the second UKIP leadership election of 2016 but withdrew.

Early life and education

Woolfe was born in Moss Side in Manchester and grew up on a council estate in Burnage. His grandmother Christine, emigrated to Britain from Ireland and married James an Englishman, who were parents of Woolfe's mother. Both his parents were born in Manchester: His English father was mixed race born to a British Jewish mother and a Black American father.[2] He abandoned Woolfe and his brother as a small child. He is the eldest of a family of four, His younger half-brother is Nathan Woolfe, a footballer who has played for various clubs as a striker.[3]

He attended St Bernard's Roman Catholic Primary School, a voluntary-aided state-maintained school in Burnage.[4], As a child of a single parent mother he won a scholarship to St Bede's College, a co-educational independent school in the Manchester suburb of Whalley Range, where he excelled in sport, debating and study.

He read law at Aberystwyth University, won several awards and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1990.

He pursued further studies at the Inns of Court School of Law in London, before being called to the Bar at The Inner Temple[4][5] He initially undertook pupillage at Francis Taylor Buildings before completing pupillage at 2 Harcourt Buildings (now 5 St Andrews Hill[6]) where he practiced criminal and general common law. He continued at 5 Paper Buildings but did not take tenancy there as he moved into his first role as an Employed Barrister acting as General Counsel for a stockbroking firm Merchant Securities Limited.

He moved to the Union Bank of Switzerland, London office in the legal and compliance department where managed the private banking, derivatives desks and anti money laundering procedures. He then went onto work for several investment banks such as Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital and Standard Bank as well as Aviva.

Before becoming interested in politics he spent several years as general counsel for hedge fund managers such as Boyer Allan Investment Management LLP. He co-founded the Hedge Fund lawyers Association and was it's chair for 2010 to 2102. Since 2019 he has also acted as a legal and regulatory consultant to financial institutions.[4]

Political career

Woolfe was introduced to UKIP by Lord Pearson of Rannoch and made his debut speech at UKIP's 2010 annual conference in Torquay.[7] After Nigel Farage declared his intention to stand in the 2010 UKIP leadership election, he appointed Woolfe to his team of senior spokespeople, becoming UKIP Economics spokesman. In 2011, Woolfe was elected to UKIP's National Executive Committee, coming second behind Neil Hamilton who topped the poll.

Woolfe stood as a UKIP candidate for the City and East for the Greater London Authority[8] in May 2012, coming seventh with 3.1% of the vote.

On 8 May 2014, Woolfe chaired a UKIP public meeting in Westminster promoting UKIP's Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) candidates;[9] his responsibilities include being UKIP Spokesman for migration policy.[10] Woolfe has called for a fair and ethical stance towards migration, stressing that migration should be based on merit, not on race, religion, colour or creed.[11]

Woolfe was selected as number 3 on UKIP's regional party list in the 2014 European Parliament election in North West England. He was one of three candidates from the party to be elected as MEP in the region.[12][13]

From July 2014 until May 2015, Woolfe's Economics brief was shared with Patrick O'Flynn. O'Flynn was responsible for macro policy and taxation, while Woolfe remained UKIP's Financial Affairs and City of London spokesman. Woolfe advocates a simplified and lower tax regime for all, believing that the middle classes have been squeezed with the 40% tax band and has called for the 45% tax band to be abolished and replaced with a higher threshold for 40% band at £45,000. He has also echoed calls made by UKIP Leader Nigel Farage to take those on minimum wage out of paying tax altogether.[14]

On 4 September 2014, Woolfe was chosen as UKIP's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Stockport.[15] Woolfe came third at the 2015 general election with 13% of the vote.[16]

Police and Crime Commissioner elections

In November 2012, Woolfe won UKIP's nomination to contest the Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Woolfe's campaign message was one of tough on crime and the support of community policing. He finished fifth, polling 23,256 votes (8.55%).[17]

UKIP leadership bid
Further information: UK Independence Party leadership election, September 2016

In July 2016, Woolfe launched his bid to become leader of UKIP following the resignation of Nigel Farage. He gained the support of the leaders of UKIP in Wales, Scotland and London. His running-mate was Welsh UKIP leader Nathan Gill.[18]

Woolfe promised to 'ruthlessly' go after Labour seats in Northern England and the Midlands.[19] Woolfe said UKIP has "won the argument" for managed immigration and promised to drive a new focus on social mobility.[20] Furthermore, Woolfe also said he would build on the 4 million votes UKIP got at the last election.

Membership lapse and leadership application

On 31 July 2016, he was blocked by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) from submitting his leadership, claiming that his application had been submitted several minutes after the deadline.[21][22][23] Woolfe denied this, and said UKIP's computer systems were unable to accept his application at the time of submission. He had previously talked of scrapping the NEC.[24] Furthermore, the NEC accused him of letting UKIP membership lapse from December 2014. However, they backtracked when Woolfe provided proof in the selection meeting.

Possible defection to Conservative Party

On 5 October 2016, Woolfe was reported saying he was "enthused" by Theresa May's leadership, and that he had considered defecting to the Conservative Party.[25] Meanwhile, eighteen days after Diane James was elected as UKIP leader, she resigned. Woolfe said he would stand for the UKIP leadership.[26][27]

Brexit Party

On 8 February 2019 on BBC Newsnight, Woolfe stated that he would stand for the Brexit Party in the event that Britain had not left the European Union before the May 2019 UK EU elections.[28] He was not, however, among the Brexit Party candidates who stood for election on 23 May.

Personal life

Woolfe is a single dad. He was married to Fiona Woolfe but divorced. They have a daughter. They lived in Chester until mid-2016, when they moved to Winchester.[29] Woolfe is a Catholic.[30]

See also

References
  1. "The Centre for Migration & Economic Prosperity". The Centre for Migration & Economic Prosperity. 12 February 2023.
  2. "British Future Speech 2016 – Steven Woolfe MEP, UKIP Spokesman on Migration and Financial Affairs". Stevenwoolfe.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  3. Brown, Richard (22 November 2014). "Ukip runner says Stockport's 'fear of Manchester' is like apartheid-era South Africa". Mancunian Matters. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  4. "GECO – General Election Campaign Outlook – Steven Woolfe MEP". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  5. "The Inner Temple". The Inner Temple.
  6. "5 St Andrew's Hill". 5SAH.
  7. "Steven Woolfe - UKIP Conference 2010 - Part 1". Steven Woolfe. Retrieved 7 October 2016 – via YouTube.
  8. Martin Hoscik. "UKIP announces London Assembly candidates". www.mayorwatch.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  9. Bennett, Owen (8 May 2014). "'NEVER call us racist again' Ukip's black and ethnic minority candidates fight back". The Express. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  10. "leader Nigel Farage announces two key frontbench spokesmen roles with more to follow". UKIP. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  11. Bennett, Asa (23 July 2014). "Ukip's New Migration Spokesman Steven Woolfe On Party's 'Ethical Immigration Policy'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  12. "Labour and UKIP secure three MEPs, wiping out BNP and Liberal Democrats". Manchester Evening News. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  13. "Vote2014 – North West". BBC. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  14. "Ukip to fight 2015 election on pledge to raise 40p tax threshold to £45,000". The Telegraph. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  15. Holmes, David. "Chester: Ukip Euro MP to stand for Parliament". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  16. "Stockport". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  17. "Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Results 2012". Manchester City Council. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  18. "Nathan Gill to be UKIP leadership running-mate to Steven Woolfe". BBC News. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  19. "Steven Woolfe Announces UKIP Leadership Bid". Huffington Post. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  20. "Steven Woolfe launches Ukip leadership bid". ITV News. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  21. Ian Dunt (1 August 2016). "Ukip's cack-handed leadership race tells you everything about its politics". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  22. Rowena Mason (3 August 2016). "Ukip in turmoil as Steven Woolfe excluded from leadership ballot". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  23. "UKIP leadership: Steven Woolfe excluded from race – BBC News". Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  24. "UKIP leadership: Steven Woolfe excluded from race". BBC News. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  25. Bennett, Owen (5 October 2016). "Ukip Anger At Steven Woolfe After He Admits Considering Defecting To The Conservatives". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  26. Watts, Joe (6 October 2016). "Steven Woolfe collapse: Ukip leadership favourite in 'serious condition' after altercation at European Parliament". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  27. "UKIP's Steven Woolfe in hospital 'after altercation'". BBC News. 6 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  28. "Nigel Farage launches new 'Brexit' party DISCUSSION - BBC Newsnight". BBC Newsnight. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019 – via YouTube.
  29. Holmes, David (18 October 2016). "Chester-based Euro MP quits UKIP leadership race - and his party". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  30. "Margot Parker: 'The bishops must meet with UKIP'". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
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