| Margot Parker | |
| Office: | Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party & Spokesperson for Home Affairs |
| Leader: | Gerard Batten |
| Predecessor: | The Earl of Dartmouth (Deputy Chair) Richard Bingley (Home Affairs) |
| Successor: | Vacant |
| Term Start: | 27 February 2018 |
| Term End: | 15 April 2019 |
| Office1: | Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party |
| Leader1: | Henry Bolton |
| Term Start1: | 18 October 2017 |
| Term End1: | 22 January 2018 |
| Predecessor1: | Peter Whittle |
| Successor1: | Mike Hookem |
| Office2: | UKIP Spokesperson for Women and Equalities |
| Leader2: | Paul Nuttall |
| Term Start2: | 2 December 2016 |
| Term End2: | 18 October 2017 |
| Predecessor2: | Office established |
| Successor2: | Star Anderton |
| Office3: | UKIP Spokesperson for Small Business |
| Leader3: | Nigel Farage |
| Term Start3: | 24 July 2014 |
| Term End3: | 1 December 2016 |
| Predecessor3: | Office established |
| Successor3: | Ernie Warrender |
| Constituency Mp4: | East Midlands |
| Parliament4: | European |
| Term Start4: | 1 July 2014 |
| Term End4: | 1 July 2019[1] [2] |
| Predecessor4: | Derek Clark |
| Successor4: | Annunziata Rees-Mogg |
| Birth Date: | 24 July 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Grantham, England, UK |
| Alma Mater: | De Montfort University |
Margaret Lucille Jeanne Parker (born 24 July 1943) is a British former politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands region between 2014 and 2019.[3]
Margaret Lucille Jeanne Parker was born in Grantham. She was educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School and De Montfort University, where she read Law.[4]
Parker stood as a candidate for Libertas in the 2009 European election in the East Midlands. She was second on the party list; the party won 0.6% of the vote and no seats.
By the following year she had defected to the UK Independence Party (UKIP). She stood in Sherwood in the 2010 general election, finishing 5th (1,490 votes, 3%). In 2012, she stood in the Corby by-election, finishing third with 5,108 votes (14.3%).[5]
In 2014, Parker was nominated as the second candidate on the East Midlands list for UKIP in preparation for the 2014 European Parliament election. She was subsequently elected alongside Roger Helmer as a UKIP MEP for the East Midlands constituency.
Following the election of Henry Bolton as leader of UKIP in 2017, Parker was appointed deputy leader.[6] After Bolton refused to stand down following a vote of no confidence by UKIP's National Executive Committee, Parker resigned as deputy leader.[7]
During the leadership of Gerard Batten, Parker served as Home Affairs spokeswoman and Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party, but resigned her post and membership of the party in April 2019, defecting to the Brexit Party, alongside Jane Collins & Jill Seymour,[8] citing Batten's defence of Carl Benjamin's 2016 tweet saying he "wouldn't even rape" Labour MP Jess Phillips.
Despite her defection, Parker was not selected as a Brexit Party candidate for the 2019 European Parliament elections, and ceased to be a Member of the European Parliament on 26 May 2019.