Bob Spink

Robert Michael Spink (born 1 August 1948, Haworth, Worth Valley, Yorkshire) is a politician in the United Kingdom who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Castle Point in Essex for two periods between 1992 and 2010.

Spink was elected as the Conservative Party MP for Castle Point in 1992, lost his seat in 1997, but regained it in 2001. Having resigned the Conservative whip in March 2008, in April 2008 he defected to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), becoming that party's first MP. In November 2008 he was redesignated as an Independent, on the grounds that UKIP had no 'whip'. Spink lost his seat in the 2010 election to the Conservative candidate, Rebecca Harris.

He is UKIP's prospective candidate for the Essex Police and Crime Commissioner Election in 2016.

Early life

He was educated at Holycroft Secondary Modern School (now a primary school) on Victoria Road in Keighley and Southall Technical College. At the University of Manchester, he gained an BSc Hons (1st) in 1972. At Cranfield University, he gained an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Administration in 1975 and PhD in Economics and Management in 1988.