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Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk (born Robert Michael Silk; 19 May 1942) is an English former politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he served as a Labour Party
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
in 1986 in order to present a new daytime talk show, ''
Kilroy Kilroy may refer to: * Kilroy (surname) * ''Kilroy'' (TV series), a BBC day time chat show hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk * Kilroy, a main character beginning with Season 2 in the television series '' Taken'' * Kilroy's College, a distance educat ...
'', which ran until 2004. He returned to politics, serving as 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) from 2004 to 2009. He had a profound role in the mainstreaming of Eurosceptic politics in the UK and has been dubbed 'The Godfather of
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...
'.


Early life

Kilroy-Silk was born in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
, to the son of William Silk, a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
leading stoker, and his wife Minnie Rose (''née'' Rooke). William Silk was a RN stoker lost at sea when aged 22, serving on , which was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
by German torpedo-destroyers on 23 October 1943. His son was 17 months old. Robert's mother Rose remarried in 1946, to family friend John Francis Kilroy, a car worker at the Rootes plant in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...
. He adopted the young boy and gave him the first part of his surname; Robert became known as Kilroy-Silk. Kilroy-Silk failed his eleven-plus in 1953. He spent his first year at a
secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...
and later passed the review exam and went to Saltley Grammar School,
Saltley Saltley is an inner-city area of Birmingham, east of the city centre. The area is part of the Washwood Heath ward, and was previously part of the Nechells ward. It is part of the Ladywood constituency in the city. History Saltley was originally ...
, Birmingham. He attended the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...
to study politics and economics.


Marriage and early career

In 1963, Kilroy-Silk married Jan Beech, daughter of a
shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...
. They have a son Dominic (b Q1 1967) and a daughter Natasha (b. Q1 1969). After graduation he became a lecturer in politics at the
University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
, serving from 1966 to 1974. He published a theoretical work, ''Socialism since Marx'', in 1972.


Political career


Labour MP

At the February 1974 general election, Kilroy-Silk was elected as a Labour MP for the
Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administ ...
constituency in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
. He remained its MP until its abolition at the 1983 general election, when he was elected to represent the new Knowsley North seat; he held this until his
resignation from the House of Commons Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are not permitted to resign their seats. To circumvent this prohibition, MPs who wish to step down are instead appointed to an " office of profit under the Cro ...
in 1986. In an article for ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' in 1975, Kilroy-Silk argued that politics was not "compromises and bargains" or hankering after "a spurious consensus". He wrote that the function of government, particularly a Labour government, was
"to impose its values on society. Its role is creative: to cast, so far as it is able, society in its image". Furthermore, socialists should not be worried about being accused of dictatorial powers; they must go forward with "a tint of arrogance".
The next year he was quoted as saying, "the Labour Party must always be a class party, for it is a class war we are fighting". Kilroy-Silk was appointed Shadow
Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
spokesman, resigning in 1985. In resigning his seat, he said that he had been assaulted by members of the
Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...
group and was reported to have had a scuffle with left-wing Labour MP
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...
. He wrote a book about his experiences, entitled ''Hard Labour'', and subsequently left the Labour Party.


Eurosceptic politics


Joining UKIP

In 2004, Kilroy-Silk was recruited to 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). During that year's
European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...
campaign he presented one of the
party political broadcast A party political broadcast (also known, in pre-election campaigning periods, as a party election broadcast) is a television or radio broadcast made by a political party. In the United Kingdom the Communications Act 2003 prohibits (and previou ...
s. His recruitment and celebrity significantly raised the profile of the party, further helped by his enlisting of actress
Joan Collins Dame Joan Henrietta Collins (born 23 May 1933) is an English actress, author and columnist. Collins is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, a People's Choice Award, two Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Primeti ...
who attended a UKIP press conference at Kilroy-Silk's invitation.


Election to the European Parliament

Kilroy-Silk stood on the UKIP list for the East Midlands constituency and was elected as 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) in the second seat for his region.The election used a
closed list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively only vote for political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...
form of
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
; UKIP scored 26.05 per cent of the vote in that region, just behind the Conservatives with 26.39 per cent.


UKIP leadership

In the
2004 Hartlepool by-election On 23 July 2004, the Member of Parliament for Hartlepool, in England, Peter Mandelson ( Labour), was nominated as the United Kingdom's new European Commissioner for Trade. On 8 September, he accepted the office of Steward of the Manor of North ...
, UKIP came third, ahead of 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 ...
. The next day, in an interview on '' Breakfast with Frost'' ( BBC), Kilroy-Silk expressed ambition to lead UKIP and criticised the party's leader
Roger Knapman Roger Maurice Knapman (born 20 February 1944) is a British politician who served as a Conservative MP before becoming Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Early life The son of Harry Arthur Blackmore Knapman, a farmer, and Joan Margot n ...
. Following this, businessman and friend Paul Sykes announced his intention to cease his partial funding of UKIP and to return his support to the Conservatives, as he feared that the Euro-sceptic vote might be split. The branch chairmen of UKIP were canvassed on their opinion regarding Kilroy-Silk's challenge for the party leadership. Only a minority (13%) were sympathetic to him; Kilroy-Silk did not think this was significant, as he believed that too few party members had been consulted. Party officials threatened him with disciplinary action if he continued his challenge. On 27 October 2004, Kilroy-Silk officially announced that he had withdrawn from the UKIP whip in the European Parliament, branding the party "incompetent". But, he said that he would remain as an independent member of UKIP, and would continue to challenge for the leadership. UKIP's constitution states that 70 days' notice is required before a leadership ballot can take place. With the next general election in the UK expected in spring 2005, Kilroy-Silk pushed for an emergency general meeting of the party as early as possible. On 3 November 2004, Kilroy-Silk said he intended to be leader by Christmas, though this would have been impossible under the rules. In Manchester on 3 December 2004 at about 7.15 p.m., Kilroy-Silk was attacked outside the Girls' High School, when a bucket of manure was thrown over him as he arrived for a recording of the BBC Radio 4's ''Any Questions''. On 20 January 2005, Kilroy-Silk announced that he had left UKIP; he had been a member for nine months.


Veritas

On 30 January 2005 Kilroy-Silk launched a new political party
Veritas Veritas is the name given to the Roman virtue of truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess. The Greek goddess of truth is Aletheia (Ancient Greek: ). The German philosopher Martin Heidegger argues ...
, promising to take the fight to the “supercilious metropolitan elite”.
Damian Hockney Nicholas Richard Alexander Damian Hockney is a British former politician who was the leader of the One London party from 2005 to 2008. He was a Member of the London Assembly (AM) for Londonwide, and was also a member of the Metropolitan Police A ...
, UKIP's leader in the
London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...
, had defected to Veritas, becoming its first Deputy Leader. UKIP members and some journalists dubbed Kilroy-Silk's new party "Vanitas", meaning a party acting as a vehicle for its founder's vanity. The party was formally launched on 2 February 2005 at Hinckley Golf Club in
Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbo ...
, Leicestershire. In the 2005 general election, Kilroy-Silk contested the seat of Erewash, but came in fourth with 5.8%, just above the 5% level needed to save his deposit. He tried to press charges against a man who, he said, "smashed a bottle of water against the side of his head" while the politician was being interviewed by a European television crew outside a supermarket. The alleged assailant said he had squirted Kilroy-Silk with water from a plastic bottle before running away; this account was confirmed by the TV crew, which also filmed the incident. The police decided not to prosecute. On 12 July 2005, party member Ken Wharton announced his intention to challenge Kilroy-Silk for the leadership, claiming party members were "not being looked after". Discontented party members set up the Veritas Members' Association to "put the truth back into Veritas". On 29 July 2005, Veritas announced the resignation of Kilroy-Silk as party leader. In his resignation statement, he said:
"It was clear from the general election result – and more recently that of the Cheadle by-election – that the electors are content with the old parties and that it would be virtually impossible for a new party to make a significant impact given the nature of our electoral system. We tried and failed."
In August 2005, four of the MEPs for the East Midlands region (
Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...
, Heaton-Harris, Helmer and Whitehead) sent a joint letter to President of the European Parliament
Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served ...
complaining about Kilroy-Silk:
"He seems to have done little or no work as a constituency MEP for the East Midlands. This leaves five MEPs to do the work of six and the electorate have been short-changed". They went on to complain that Kilroy-Silk was not "fulfilling the pledge he made on becoming an MEP, to serve the electorate of his region" and to call for him to "either do the job for which he is paid, or get out and leave it to those who can."Stares, Justin
Kilroy-Silk does 'little or no work' and should quit, say MEPs
''The Telegraph,'' 13 August 2005. Quote: "A cross-party coalition has called for Robert Kilroy-Silk to quit the European Parliament on the grounds that he seldom attends and does "little or no work" for his East Midlands constituency. ..His four regional colleagues – Christopher Heaton-Harris (Conservative), Roger Helmer (Conservative), Phillip Whitehead (Labour) and Derek Clark (Ukip) – said they "deplore" Mr Kilroy-Silk's non-attendance. "He seems to have done little or no work as a constituency MEP for the East Midlands. This leaves five MEPs to do the work of six and the electorate have been short-changed," they wrote. "Mr Kilroy-Silk should either do the job for which he is paid, or get out and leave it to those who can." The parliament has no power to remove Mr Kilroy-Silk, who is understood to have attended the minimum number of plenary sessions required to be eligible for his parliamentary allowances.
The European Parliament does not have any power to expel a member, and Borrell took no action.


Political affiliation while an MEP

Kilroy-Silk, who was elected to the European Parliament on the UKIP list, remained a member of the Veritas Party, but sat as an Independent MEP. Some Veritas members were reported questioning why he was allowed to continue as a party member. Kilroy-Silk's name was absent from the list of candidates published on 7 May 2009 for the
2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...
. His membership was terminated when the European Parliament reconvened on 17 July 2009.


Journalism


Ireland

In 1992, Kilroy made a comment regarding Ireland in his ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
'' column, under the guise of attacking
Ray MacSharry Ray MacSharry (born 29 April 1938) is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from March 1982 to December 1982, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development from 1989 to 1993, Minister for the Public Servic ...
, a former Irish government minister and EU commissioner, whom he described as "a redundant second-rate politician from a country peopled by priests, peasants and pixies". This was condemned by the then Irish ambassador to the UK, Joseph Small, for its "gratuitously offensive and indeed racist remarks". The newspaper's editor, Sir Nicholas Lloyd, apologised to MacSharry and the Irish people in general, while Kilroy added: "I accept that my references to Mr MacSharry and the Irish people were both offensive and unjustified, and I fully associate myself with this apology."


Arabs

The BBC cancelled the ''Kilroy'' show in January 2004 after an opinion article, entitled "We owe Arabs nothing", by Kilroy-Silk was published in the '' Sunday Express'' on 4 January 2004. The article had first been published in April 2003 by the same paper and 'republished in error' according to Kilroy-Silk. It did not attract much national attention when first published. According to Faisal Bodi, a columnist for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', the reaction at its second publication was a measure of "the increasing organisation of the Muslim community". Bodi added: The article was strongly criticised by the
Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...
, whose head,
Trevor Phillips Sir Mark Trevor Phillips (born 31 December 1953) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician who served as Chair of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2001 and from 2002 to 2003. He presented '' Trevor Phillips on Sunday'', a Sunda ...
, said that the affair could have a "hugely unhelpful" effect. Bodi wrote that Kilroy-Silk should be prosecuted for
incitement to racial hatred Incitement to ethnic or racial hatred is a crime under the laws of several countries. Australia In Australia, the Racial Hatred Act 1995 amends the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, inserting Part IIA – Offensive Behaviour Because of Race, Colour ...
. He said that Kilroy-Silk had also written statements critical of
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
in 1989, during the
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...
affair, and in a 1995 article in the ''
Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...
''. By contrast, Ibrahim Nawar, the head of Arab Press Freedom Watch, came out in support of Kilroy-Silk in a ''
Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'' article. He said the politician was "an advocate of freedom of expression" and that he agreed with much of what Kilroy-Silk had said about Arab regimes. A spokeswoman for Kilroy-Silk told ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', "He is not a racist at all – he employs a black driver", a quote which is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Kilroy-Silk.


Media


''Kilroy''

His talk show ''
Kilroy Kilroy may refer to: * Kilroy (surname) * ''Kilroy'' (TV series), a BBC day time chat show hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk * Kilroy, a main character beginning with Season 2 in the television series '' Taken'' * Kilroy's College, a distance educat ...
'' started on 24 November 1986 as ''Day To Day''; it ran until 2004. It was cancelled by the BBC in reaction to the publication of an article by Kilroy-Silk entitled "We owe Arabs nothing" which was published in the '' Sunday Express'' on 4 January 2004. This provoked considerable controversy.Robert Kilroy-Silk, "We owe Arabs nothing"


''Shafted''

In 2001, Kilroy-Silk hosted a television programme on
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
called ''
Shafted ''Shafted'' was a British game show that aired on ITV from 5 to 26 November 2001 and was hosted by Robert Kilroy-Silk. Format The game begins with six players and is played in five rounds. In the first round, each player must secretly declare ...
''. It was a quiz-show and at the end of the show, Kilroy-Silk would ask players whether they wished to "share" or to "shaft", with accompanying hand gestures. The show was cancelled after four episodes. The ''Penguin TV Companion'' (2006) ranked it as the worst British television show of the 2000s.


''Have I Got News for You''

Kilroy-Silk appeared as a guest on '' Have I Got News for You'' on 30 April 2004. There was a heated exchange between him and his teammate
Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and somet ...
.


Other television appearances

On 31 January 2005, a television programme, ''Kilroy: Behind the Tan'', was broadcast on the BBC. Created in documentary style, it followed the politician from his election as an MEP for UKIP to his leaving the party. In early February 2005, Kilroy-Silk worked on a
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
television programme called ''Kilroy and the Gypsies''. He spent a week living with a family of Romany Gypsies at a campsite in
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
to explore their lives. He also interviewed residents of surrounding villages. In other appearances, he was the first contestant to be voted out of the 2008 edition of '' I'm a Celebrity....Get Me Out of Here!''. On 7 November 2009, he appeared as a panellist on the BBC's ''
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 ...
'' programme. In November 2008, Kilroy-Silk was criticised by
Derek Clark Derek Roland Clark (10 October 1933 - 1 January 2023) was a former UK Independence Party politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands from 2004 to 2014. He stood as a UKIP candidate in the 2010 general el ...
MEP. He complained that Kilroy-Silk was taking his parliamentary wage while being paid to appear in the reality TV show ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!''. He thought the TV show represented a conflict of interest.


References


External links

* *
Kilroy quits as leader of Veritas

"Kilroy-Silk quits 'shameful' UKIP"
at BBC News {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilroy-Silk, Robert 1942 births Living people Academics of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the London School of Economics English television presenters Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Birmingham, West Midlands Politics of Lancashire Politics of Merseyside UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Veritas (political party) politicians Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom UK Independence Party MEPs Veritas (political party) MEPs MEPs for England 2004–2009 British broadcaster-politicians People educated at Saltley Grammar School I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants British political party founders British Eurosceptics