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Tim Aker

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Tim Aker
Official portrait, 2014
Member of the European Parliament
for the East of England
In office
1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019[1][2]
Preceded byAndrew Duff
Succeeded byJune Mummery
Personal details
Born (1985-05-23) 23 May 1985 (age 39)
Orsett, Essex, England
Political partyConservative Party (2005)
UK Independence Party (2014–2018)
Thurrock Independents (2018–2019)
Reform UK (2019–)
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham, University of Buckingham
Websitethebrexitparty.org

Timür Mark "Tim" Aker (born 23 May 1985) is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament for the East of England region. He was elected as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate in 2014. He was head of UKIP's Policy Unit from August 2013 to January 2015, and was UKIP's candidate for the Thurrock constituency in the 2015 general election, coming third in a close 3-way election. Aker left UKIP and joined the Thurrock Independents where he also successfully sought election a councillor in 2018,[3][4] before later joining the Brexit Party.

Early life

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Aker was born in Orsett to a Turkish father and an English mother, and grew up in Aveley.[5][6] He attended Havering Sixth Form College.[7] He went on to study at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a BA in History and Politics.[8]

He was previously campaign director for Get Britain Out and a coordinator for the TaxPayers' Alliance.[9]

Political career

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Referred to by The Spectator[10] as one of UKIP's most recognisable figures, Aker stood unsuccessfully in the constituency of Thurrock in the 2015 general election (although he gained nearly 32% of the vote and came within 1000 votes of the winning candidate). On 20 January 2015, Aker quit as UKIP's Head of Policy, with some press reporting that he was sacked for failing to complete the party's manifesto on time,[11] a claim which the party denied.[12] Appointed as Local Government spokesman by Henry Bolton in October 2017,[13] Aker left this post after Bolton failed to resign as leader following a vote of no confidence from UKIP's National Executive Committee.[14]

After the ousting of Bolton as leader, Aker left UKIP. As of December 2018, he sat in the European Parliament as a Thurrock Independents MEP, while remaining a member of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy parliamentary group.[15] From February 2019 until the UK's departure from the EU, Aker sat in the European Parliament for the Brexit Party. He also resigned his seat on Thurrock council having moved away from the area.[16]

Elections contested

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European Parliament elections (Multi-member constituency; party list)

Date of election Region Party Votes Percentage
of votes 		Result
2014 European election East of England UKIP 542,812 34.5 Elected

United Kingdom general elections (Single-member constituencies)

Date of election Region Party Votes Percentage
of votes 		Result
2015 general election Thurrock UKIP 15,718 31.7 Unelected
2017 general election Thurrock UKIP 10,112 20.1 Unelected

Thurrock Borough Council by-election (Single-member ward)

Date of election Ward Party Votes Percentage
of votes 		Result
2014 Thurrock Borough Council by-election Aveley & Uplands UKIP 747[17] 40.9 Elected
2018 Thurrock Council election Aveley & Uplands[18] Thurrock Independents 1,037 43.2 Elected

After Politics

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He resigned as a Councillor in February 2019[19] and chose not to seek re-election as an MEP in 2019.

He briefly worked for Amazon before being appointed as the Development Manager for the Federation of Small Businesses in Kent and Medway.[20]

Personal life

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Aker claims to have a private property portfolio and completed an MA in 20th Century British History at the University of Buckingham in March 2022, where he is now a PhD student.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. ^ Westmonster (26 January 2018). "17 Essex Councillors leave UKIP to form new Independent Group".
  4. ^ "Ex-UKIP leader Paul Nuttall quits party over Tommy Robinson role". Sky News.
  5. ^ Hawkins, Neil (31 March 2015). "ELECTION 2015: Thurrock". The Echo. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  6. ^ Watt, Nicholas (2 December 2014). "Tories resort to 'cheap tactics' by calling Ukip's Tim Aker by Turkish name Timür". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  7. ^ Nezhati, Natalie (26 November 2014). "Ukip MEP Fails to Charm Young Voters". The Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  8. ^ Wells, Anthony (5 January 2014). "East England Euro Candidates 2014". UKPollingReport. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  9. ^ Aker, Tim (17 February 2009). "Political parties smell a profit from expenses". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  10. ^ Read. "Mini Election: Tim Aker on Ukip's election strategy and winning in Thurrock". Blogs.spectator.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Ukip sacks policy chief after he fails to deliver manifesto". The Times. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Ukip denies policy leader was sacked after members 'claimed not to have seen party's manifesto' in run-up to general election". The Independent. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  13. ^ Withers, Matt (18 October 2018). "Your guide to Ukip's new 'shadow cabinet'". The New European. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Region's Ukip MEPs call on embattled leader to quit". ITV News. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Tim AKER". European Parliament. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Previews: 21 Mar 2019". 20 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Thurrock : Election of a Borough Councillor for Aveley & Uplands" (PDF). Thurrock.gov.uk. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ "Tim Aker resigns as councillor for Aveley and Uplands". Thurrock Gazette. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Your Local Team". Federation of Small Business. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  21. ^ Aker, Tim. "Tim Aker". LinkedIn. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
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