Piers Wauchope


Piers Andrew Charles Wauchope is a British politician and barrister who served as interim leader of the UK Independence Party during 2019, following the resignation of Gerard Batten. He was previously a member of the Conservative Party and was the leader of the Tories and of the opposition on Camden London Borough Council from 2000 to 2006, representing Belsize.
As a barrister, he represented former UKIP parliamentary candidate Matthew Smith in an electoral fraud case. In 2010, he made the news after separating two brawling men during a court session.

Electoral history

In the 2012 United Kingdom local elections, Wauchope ran as a UKIP candidate and won the Rusthall electoral ward seat in Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. He beat the incumbent Conservative councillor and council leader Bob Atwood by 46 votes. He left the position on 16 April 2015.
In November 2012, he stood to be the first police and crime commissioner for Kent, but was eliminated in the first round of voting.
He stood as a candidate in the 2016 London Assembly election.
Wauchope was a candidate in the 2019 European Parliament election for the South East England seat.