Giles Bryan Chichester (born 29 July 1946) is a British

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 ...

politician who 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) for South West England and Gibraltar from 1999 until he retired 2014. He was elected as

Vice-President of the European Parliament There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament. Role Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau and chair the plenary when the president is not ...

on 6 July 2011 to replace

Silvana Koch-Mehrin Esther Silvana Koch-Mehrin (born 17 November 1970, in Wuppertal) is a former German politician of the Free Democratic Party of Germany who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2014. Early career In 1998, Koch-Mehrin founded ...

who had resigned over plagiarism allegations. Chichester was born in London and educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and Christ Church, Oxford. Since 1969, he has worked in the family business, Francis Chichester Ltd (publishers of maps, guides and educational wallcharts), founded by his father

Sir Francis Chichester Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972) was a British businessman, pioneering aviator and solo sailor. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the wor ...

KBE, and still lives in the family home at 9 St James's Place, London SW1. He was MEP for Devon and East Plymouth from

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and represented South West England in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

from 1999 until 2014. On 23 July 2004 he was elected chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. He is a former Chairman of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History The ...

Political Committee and is chairman of his family business publishing maps. Chichester describes himself as a "

climate change sceptic Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...

Expenses

On 5 June 2008, Chichester voluntarily stepped down as Leader of the Conservative MEPs in order to clear his name after it was alleged that since 1996 he had wrongly sent European parliamentary funds for secretarial and office services through his family business of which he was a paid director: he was succeeded by his deputy, Philip Bushill-Matthews. Chichester insisted it was his understanding that the contract had been accepted by the EU Parliament in 1999 and in 2004, and that he transferred money for his political staff through the company simply as an easier means of administration. The European Parliament suggested that a change in the Financial Regulation in 2003 meant this arrangement could constitute a potential conflict of interest. The situation arose while as Leader of the Conservative MEPs Cameron had tasked Chichester to review and compile a code of conduct for Conservative MEPs' expenses after the embarrassment of MP Derek Conway. However, Chichester admitted that once he had been told the contract was not in order he cancelled it immediately and described it as a "whoopsy-daisy" surprise to him. Chichester stood again successfully for re-election as an MEP in 2009.

References

External links

Profile on European Parliament websiteCHICHESTER, Giles Bryan
''Who's Who 2013'', A & C Black, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chichester, Giles 1946 births Living people People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Businesspeople from London Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 1994–1999 MEPs for England 1999–2004 MEPs for England 2004–2009 MEPs for England 2009–2014 Politicians from London