Freddy Vachha

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Freddy Vachha
Leader of the UK Independence Party
In office
22 June 2020 – 12 September 2020
DeputyPat Mountain
Preceded byRichard Braine
Pat Mountain (Interim)
Succeeded byNeil Hamilton
Personal details
Born
Freddy Vachha

December 1957 (age 63–64)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
(now Mumbai, India)
Political partyUK Independence Party
Spouse(s)
Julie Butler
​
(m. 1991)​
ResidenceChingford, London, England
Alma materCity of London Polytechnic
St. Xavier's College, University of Bombay, Mumbai

Freddy Vachha (born December 1957)[1] is a British businessman and politician who was the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from June to September 2020.

Early life[]

Freddy Vachha was born in Bombay, India, in December 1957.[2] Between 1977 and 1980, he worked as a private tutor in mathematics and physics in India. Between 1980 and 1981, he studied accounting and obtained a Diploma in Accountancy. In 1981, he worked at the accounting firm Ernst & Whinney as a trainee, where he remained until 1984. Between 1984 and 1995, he ran his own computer software company Digital Precision, developing software for the Sinclair QL.[3]

Vachha has Indian Parsi heritage.[4][5]

Political career[]

Vachha was the UKIP candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green in the 2015 general election, standing against Iain Duncan Smith who was serving as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the time. During a hustings event, he said that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was caused by mass immigration.[6]

Vachha was a candidate for the 2016 London Assembly election in the North East constituency but was not elected.[7] He stood as a candidate in Old Bexley and Sidcup in the 2017 general election, coming fourth.[8] He competed for one of London's seats in the 2019 European Parliament election[9] but was not elected. In the same year, he unsuccessfully ran for UKIP leader in that year's leadership election but came second to Richard Braine.[10] He co-ordinated the party's national campaign for the 2019 general election.[11][12]

He was elected unopposed as leader of UKIP in June 2020,[13] saying that the party "went astray quite a few years ago" and that under his leadership it would "return to our libertarian freedom-loving principles".[14][2] On 12 September 2020, it was reported that Vachha had been suspended from the party by the party chairman Ben Walker and that Neil Hamilton had been installed as interim leader.[13][15] Vachha maintains that he is still the leader and argues that Walker is no longer the chairman.[16][17] Vachha decided to take legal action, however in December a judge refused his request to fast-track the case. Vachha then dropped his legal case and was ordered to pay the party's legal costs.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ "UKIP's new Bombay-born leader". Heritage and Destiny. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b Read, Jonathon (22 June 2020). "UKIP's new leader - who lists Nazi Germany as interest - says party is 'back on track'". The New European. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  3. ^ Steerpike (22 June 2020). "New Ukip leader's interesting CV". The Spectator. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  4. ^ Glanvill, Natalie (16 October 2014). "Indian-born Ukip candidate predicts defeat for Iain Duncan Smith". East London & West Essex Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  5. ^ arZan (1 August 2019). "Freddy Vachha To Stand for Election As Leader of UK Independence Party". Parsi Khabar. Retrieved 24 June 2020.[unreliable source?]
  6. ^ Vale, Paul (28 April 2015). "Ukip Candidate Freddy Vachha Blames Mass Immigration For The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict". HuffPost. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Election 2016: London Mayor and Assembly candidates". BBC News. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Election results: How did your constituency vote?". Sky News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  9. ^ "2019 European elections: List of candidates for London". BBC News. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Richard Braine elected as UKIP leader". BBC News. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  11. ^ Clark, Jonathan (22 November 2019). "UKIP Campaign Manager: If I had a time machine, I would stop us standing in Moray". Northern Scot. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  12. ^ Savage, Michael (8 October 2019). "On the stump: the campaign that shame forgot". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Neil Hamilton Appointed Interim Leader of UKIP". UKIP. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  14. ^ "New leader: 'Time for Ukip to get back to business'". BBC News. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Senedd Member Neil Hamilton becomes UKIP leader". Nation.Cymru. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  16. ^ "New UKIP head Neil Hamilton faces tussle as deposed leader claims he still has the top job". Nation.Cymru. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  17. ^ https://twitter.com/FreddyVachha/status/1305409374156992513[dead link]
  18. ^ "Clarity on UKIP legal challenge". us17.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
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