The

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

(UKIP) held a leadership election in 2009, with ballots closing on 26 November. The election was won by

Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch (born 20 July 1942) is a British businessman and former Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). He sits as an independent member of the House of Lords. A Eurosceptic, he was a staun ...

. Lord Pearson elected leader of UK Independence Party
, ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'', 27 November 2009 The

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

party had been led by

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...

since he won the 2006 leadership election. He announced his resignation from the post in September 2009, stating that he wanted to devote more time to his campaign for a seat in the

United Kingdom House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

Candidates

There were five candidates for the election.

Gerard Batten Gerard Joseph Batten (born 27 March 1954) is a British politician who served as the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2018 to 2019. He was a founding member of the party in 1993, and served as a Member of the European Parliament ( ...

was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) and stood unsuccessfully in the

2008 London mayoral election The 2008 London mayoral election for the office of Mayor of London, England, was held on 1 May 2008. Conservative Party (UK), Conservative candidate Boris Johnson defeated incumbent Labour Party (UK), Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone. It was the th ...

. His main policies were to broaden the party's policies beyond Euroscepticism, and to focus on winning representation at Westminster.UKIP leadership: Runners and riders
, ''

'', 19 November 2009

Mike Nattrass Michael Henry Nattrass FRICS (born 14 December 1945) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands constituency, from 2004 to 2014. He was elected as a candidate for the UK Independence ...

was also an MEP. His main policies were to focus on the upcoming general election, opposition to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, and to reject a merger with similar parties elsewhere in Europe. Lord Pearson was a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Originally appointed as a

peer, he joined UKIP in 2007. His main policies included a focus on

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

and on opposition to

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

. He had the support of Farage, who declared that Pearson was the only "serious, credible" candidate. He also had the support of the party's deputy leader,

David Campbell-Bannerman David Campbell Bannerman (born 28 May 1960 in Bombay, India) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2009 to 2019. He is currently Chairman of The Freedom Ass ...

, who had been expected to stand in the election. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' declared in September that Pearson was the favourite to win the election.Andrew Porter,
Former Tory peer favourite for Ukip leadership
, ''

'', 15 September 2009

Nikki Sinclaire Nicole Sinclaire (born 26 July 1968) is a British politician and former leader of the We Demand a Referendum Party who served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 2009 to 2014. She was elected MEP in June 2009, as ...

was another MEP. Her main policies were to professionalise the party, introducing a shadow cabinet, and to focus on communication through the media. Alan Wood was UKIP's nominating officer and a district councillor. His main policy was to focus on an alliance with other Eurosceptic parties, although not with the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...

. He was also opposed to Pearson's policy of prioritising anti-Islamism.

Result

Pearson was elected, taking almost half of the votes cast.

References

{{UKIP 2009 elections in the United Kingdom

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

UK Independence Party leadership election