Christopher Gill
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Art LaPella
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'''Christopher John Frederick Gill''' (born [[October 28]], [[1936]]) is a politician in the [[United Kingdom]]. He was one of the [[Maastricht Rebels]] and is the current President of [[The Freedom Association]] (TFA). He is also a member of the [[National Executive Committee]] of the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] (UKIP).
Gill was born in [[Wolverhampton]] where he was a local councillor and was educated locally at Birchfield Preparatory School and then [[Shrewsbury School]]. His national service was in the [[Royal Navy]], serving aboard ''HMS Modeste'' and ''HMS Birmingham''. He is a director of his family's sausage making business called F.A. Gills Ltd.
Gill served as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Ludlow (UK Parliament constituency)|Ludlow]] from [[1987]] to [[2001]], when he stepped down. He was known as the "Butcher from Ludlow", due to his family company being a meat processing firm. During the [[Maastricht Rebels|Maastricht Rebellion]], Food Minister [[Nicholas Soames]] threatened to: "close every abattoir you own". He had the Conservative Whip withdrawn over the EC Finance Bill on [[November 28]] 1994.
He was a dedicated constituency MP, who fought against the closure of local cottage hospitals. Gill was known for being an expert on [[European Union]] legislation regarding farming and also unusually (for a landlocked constituency) fishing.
He served as Chairman of The Freedom Association from 2001, before becoming its President in 2007.
In [[2006]], Gill announced that he had joined the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] (UKIP), having endorsed the Party's policies at the [[European Parliament election, 2004]] and resigned his membership of the Conservatives shortly afterwards. In [[2007]], he was elected to UKIP's [[National Executive Committee]].
Gill's autobiography is entitled ''Whip's Nightmare: Diary of a Maastricht Rebel''.
==References==
''Whip's Nightmare'' (2003)
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| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Ludlow (UK Parliament constituency)|Ludlow]]
| years = [[United Kingdom general election, 1987|1987]]–[[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001]]
| before = [[Eric Cockeram]]
| after = [[Matthew Green (politician)|Matthew Green]]
}}
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[[Category:1936 births|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:Living people|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:People from Wolverhampton|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:Conservative MPs (UK)|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:Old Salopians|Gill]]
[[Category:Councillors in the West Midlands|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987-1992|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992-1997|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997-2001|Gill, Christopher]]
[[Category:United Kingdom Independence Party politicians|Gill, Christopher]]