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Lois Perry (born June 1981) is a British politician, broadcaster and activist who was leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from May to June 2024.

Background

Perry founded Car26 in 2021, an anti-net zero group, in response to the Cop26 summit.

Political career

Perry was previously a member of Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party, serving as their South East spokesperson. In this role, she called for stop and searches of youths deemed to be suspicious in the Southend area, following a series of antisocial incidents.

Leadership of UKIP and 2024 general election

In early 2024, Perry declared her candidacy for leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), after Neil Hamilton announced his retirement. She won the subsequent leadership contest, beating rival Bill Etheridge, with 77.4% of all votes cast.

Ahead of the 2024 general election, Perry revealed that she would be standing in Harlow. Controversially, she was pictured with Reform UK leader and candidate for Clacton Nigel Farage at a lunch event, who she encouraged voters to back, despite UKIP also standing a candidate there. Additionally, she endorsed Reform's Lee Anderson as MP for Ashfield. On 15 June 2024 Perry resigned as leader, in order to spend time recovering from a recent battle with pneumonia, which left her hospitalised. Despite her resignation, she remained a candidate for the general election, due to the nomination deadline having been passed. Perry came last out of all candidates in Harlow, polling only 157 votes (0.4%).

The Heartland Institute

In December 2024, Perry was announced as the Executive Director of the newly-formed Heartland Institute UK/EU. The Heartland Institute is a US-based organisation which describes itself as "the world's most prominent think tank supporting skepticism about man-made climate change". Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, was a guest speaker at the launch event for Heartland Institute UK/EU.

References

1. "Lois Perry". Companies House. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
2. "Who is UKIP new leader Lois Perry? Climate-denying, woke-mind-virus battling politician". Yahoo news. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
3. "Ukip leader Lois Perry resigns mid-election after just 34 days in role". GB News. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
4. "New Climate Denial Group Run by Celebrity PR Exec Behind 'Net Zero Referendum' Poll". DeSmog. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
5. "Car26: the puzzle that is former UKIP Leader Lois Perry's company". Searchlight. 25 August 2024.
6. "The Brexit dark money lobby has a new target – climate change action". Open Democracy. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
7. "Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party calls for stop and search in Leigh targeting suspect youths". Echo News. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
8. "UKIP Leadership Candidate". Leigh News. 14 February 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
9. "2024 UKIP leadership election". UKIP. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
10. "General Election 2024: The strange case of Harlow's Ukip candidate". Your Harlow. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
11. "Lois Perry on X". X. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
12. "Newly elected UKIP Leader quits". Searchlight. 16 June 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
13. "Lois Perry on X". X. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
14. "Former UKIP leader among six candidates bidding to succeed Robert Halfon as Harlow MP". Bishops Stortford Independent. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
15. "Harlow - General election results - 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
16. JLakely (16 December 2024). "The Heartland Institute Solidifies its Global Impact by Founding 'Heartland UK/Europe'". The Heartland Institute. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
17. JLakely (16 December 2024). "The Heartland Institute Solidifies its Global Impact by Founding 'Heartland UK/Europe'". The Heartland Institute. Retrieved 19 December 2024.

• Living people
• 1981 births
• 21st-century British politicians