Louise Bours (born 23 December 1968), also known as Louise van de Bours, is a former

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 the

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

region. She was elected in 2014 as a

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 ...

candidate but resigned from the party 2018, and sat as an independent until she stood down at the 2019 election.

Background

Bours' father is Dutch. She trained as an actress and singer at

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...

. She was also a member of the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...

from year 2000, and a resident at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

in London. She went on to appear in ''

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'', ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama television series, series about a General Practice, GP surgery in Cardale—a small List of fictional towns in television, fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the Physician, doctors who wor ...

'' and '' Band of Gold'' and musicals and fronted 1940s-style big bands. However, Bours has said she "retired from showbusiness" in order to concentrate on politics. Bours is a single mother to two children. Louise Bours used her surname "van de Bours" as late as August 2013, in her

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profile discussing her musical career, but later dropped the "van de" and appeared as "Louise Bours" on UKIP's MEP party list in 2013. The ''

tussenvoegsel A ''tussenvoegsel'' (, ) in a Dutch name is a family name affix positioned between a person's given name and the main part of their family name. There are similar concepts in many languages, such as Celtic family name prefixes, French particle ...

'' in her name was allegedly more of a

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

than a

legal name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ap ...

, according to the ''

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''.

Political career

Bours previously served as a Conservative councillor on Congleton borough and town councils and was elected mayor in 2006. In January 2015, Bours was disqualified as a member of Congleton town council after more than six months of non-attendance. Despite receiving an £80,000 salary from the European Union following the Brexit referendum, Bours' voting record in the EU parliament dropped by 22.6% to just 43.09% overall. Only fellow UKIP MEP

Paul Nuttall Paul Andrew Nuttall (born 30 November 1976) is a British politician who served as Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2016 to 2017. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, and ...

and three other MEPs have a lower turnout in the entire

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 ...

. In 2012, she stood as UKIP's candidate in the

Police and Crime Commissioner elections The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

for

Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an are ...

, coming fifth with 7.86% of the vote. As an MEP she served as UKIP health spokesperson, and came into opposition with former leader

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 ...

on health issues; in particular Bours supports the principle of a free

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

, the English smoking ban and

plain tobacco packaging Plain tobacco packaging, also known as generic, neutral, standardised or homogeneous packaging, is packaging of tobacco products, typically cigarettes, without any branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks), including only the b ...

, in opposition to Farage. However, Bours has opposed EU tax increases on

electronic cigarettes An electronic cigarette is an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such ...

, describing the proposals as "an act of sheer folly". Bours also opposes the

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) was a proposed trade agreement between the European Union and the United States, with the aim of promoting trade and multilateral economic growth. According to Karel de Gucht, European ...

due to the impacts it would have on the NHS, saying in 2014 that: "TTIP is there for the benefit of one thing only — big business. I've got a message for

Len McCluskey Leonard David McCluskey (born 23 July 1950) is a British trade unionist. He was General Secretary of Unite the Union, the largest affiliate and a major donor to the Labour Party. As a young adult, he spent some years working in the Liverpool D ...

and

Unite Unite may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London * ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993 * ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005 Songs ...

. UKIP will fight alongside you to ensure the NHS is excluded from this agreement." Bours appeared on ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' discussing her role as health spokesperson. In November 2018, Bours resigned from UKIP. She sat as an independent MEP in the

Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD or EFD²) was a Eurosceptic and populist political group in the European Parliament. The EFDD group was a continuation for the Eighth European Parliament of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) g ...

group, until the 2019 EU election.

Elections

Bours previously served as councillor for Congleton borough and town councils and was elected mayor in 2006.

European Parliament elections 2014

On 25 May 2014, Bours was elected as MEP for the

, replacing

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 ...

leader

Nick Griffin Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician and white supremacist who represented North West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-righ ...

. She has said that she wants to "shake off the BNP in blazers thing", for UKIP and it has been claimed that she has teamed up with UKIP MEP

in the north-west, which was "a particular cause of anger" within the party according to former UKIP members, who accused them of forming part of a "cosy cartel".

General election 2015

In the 2015 general election, she stood for parliament for the Knowsley constituency. Bours came second, keeping her deposit.

References