Alan Craig
Leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance
In office
2004–2012
Preceded byMichael Elmer
Succeeded bySidney Cordle
Canning Town South Ward Councillor & Leader Of The Opposition On Newham Borough Council
In office
2 May 2002 – 6 May 2010
Personal details
Born1945 or 1946 (age 77–78)
NationalityBritish
Political partyChristian Peoples Alliance (2002–2013)
UK Independence Party (2014–)
Websitehttp://www.alansangle.com/

Alexander Alan Craig is a British politician of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), who previously served as leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) from 2004 to 2012. He stood as a candidate for Mayor of London in 2008 and was a councillor in Newham for eight years. He served as UKIP's spokesperson for families and children from 2018 to around 2019.

Life

Craig was born in 1945 or 1946.[1] He studied for a Master of Business Administration.[2] He became an evangelical Christian in 1980 or 1981.[1]

Political career

Christian Peoples Alliance

Craig first stood for Newham Council in 1998 as an independent candidate in Ordnance ward, and in 2001 he stood in a by-election for Beckton ward for the Christian Peoples Alliance.[3]

He was elected to Newham Council for Canning Town South in the 2002 local elections, becoming the only non-Labour councillor. On the same day, he unsuccessfully ran to be mayor of Newham, coming fourth.[4] In the 2006 elections he was re-elected as a councillor as part of a group of three Christian Peoples Alliance councillors, and unsuccessfully ran to be mayor of Newham, coming fourth again. As a councillor, Craig opposed the building of the London Markaz Mosque; he said that while he supports the right to worship, he had fears over the impact upon the community and on security.[5][6] He also opposed the opening of one of the regional casinos in Newham,[7] campaigned to end the DESO-funded arms fair[2] and played a leading role in the campaign to save the Queens Road Market.[8] He lost his council seat in 2010, when he unsuccessfully ran to be mayor of Newham a third time.[9]

He became leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance in 2004 and led the party in the 2005 general election and the 2010 general election, in which the party won no seats.[1][10]

In 2011 he was criticised for comparing gay rights activists to Nazis in the Church of England Newspaper.[11] In 2013 Craig became the spokesperson for a campaign group against same-sex marriage called "Gay Marriage No Thanks", and compared same-sex marriage to child abuse.[12][13]

UK Independence Party

In October 2014, Craig joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP).[13] In the 2015 general election, he was the UKIP candidate for Brent North where he lost his deposit, coming fourth with 3.9% of the vote.[14][15]

He was due to speak at an event advocating conversion therapy organised by the Core Issues Trust in April 2015.[16] The conference organisers later asked him not to speak to avoid associating the event with a political party.[17]

He was selected to be UKIP's candidate for the South West constituency in the 2016 London Assembly election.[18] The runner up in the selection, LGBT activist and former parliamentary candidate Richard Hendron, resigned from the party over Craig's selection.[19][20] UKIP's deputy chair, Suzanne Evans opposed his selection. The party's leader, Nigel Farage, removed her from her position and she was suspended for six months.[21][22][23] Craig came fifth in the election for the South West constituency, with 7% of the vote. In 2016, he wrote that he wanted to see "the gay marriage debate reopened".[24]

In the 2017 general election, he was the UKIP candidate for Witney. He finished last and lost his deposit, receiving 1.6% of the vote.[25] After the election, he was campaign manager for David Kurten's 2017 leadership campaign to be leader of UKIP.[26]

In March 2018 Craig was appointed UKIP's first Spokesperson for Families & Children, leading to resignations from the leadership of the party's LGBT group.[27] He proposed that far-right activist Tommy Robinson should be allowed to join the party.[28] He was criticised by groups including Quilliam for claiming that Muslim grooming gangs were orchestrating a "Holocaust of our children".[29][30] At UKIP's 2018 conference, he described LGBT-inclusive education as child abuse.[31]

Craig stood for UKIP in the Canning Town North ward in the 2018 local elections in Newham and was the last-placed candidate on UKIP's list for the North West England constituency in the 2019 European Parliament election.[32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wheeler, Brian (4 November 2004). "Rousing the party faithful". BBC News.
  2. 1 2 "Profile: Alan Craig". Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  3. ↑ Muir, Hugh (28 March 2001). "Labour's fortress threatened by a Christian soldier". The Evening Standard.
  4. ↑ Graves, David (5 March 2002). "Hospital protesters win control of council". The Daily Telegraph.
  5. ↑ Johnston, Pillip (25 September 2006). "The shadow cast by a mega-mosque". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 October 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Allen, Nick (30 October 2006). "Olympic-Size London Mosque May Eclipse Landmarks". Bloomberg L.P.
  7. ↑ Saini, Angela (1 February 2007). "Say no to casino!". BBC London. BBC. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  8. ↑ "Friend's of Queen's Market". Archived from the original on 7 May 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2008.
  9. ↑ "Local Election Results 2010 - Canning Town South". Newham.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 7 August 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  10. ↑ "CPA makes cash pledge to couples". BBC News. 25 April 2005.
  11. ↑ "Anglican newspaper defends 'Gaystapo' article" The Guardian 8 November 2011
  12. ↑ "New gay marriage no thanks group launches". Pinknews. 17 June 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Ukip Defend Man Who Fears 'Gaystapo' Joining Party". HuffPost UK. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated, Brent North" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "Election results for Brent North, 7 May 2015".
  16. ↑ "Exclusive: UKIP candidate Alan Craig to speak at 'gay cure' event". PinkNews. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  17. ↑ "Ukip Candidate Dropped From 'Gay Cure' Conference". HuffPost UK. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "Andy McSmith's Diary: Political incorrectness – Ukip's way of choosing a candidate" The Independent, 1 March 2016
  19. ↑ "UKIP member quits over 'homophobic abuse' and selection of 'gay cure' advocate for GLA seat". Your Local Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  20. ↑ "Ukip's just selected a candidate that called LGBT activists the 'Gaystapo'". Metro. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  21. ↑ "A man who once called for war against the 'Gaystapo' is now a Ukip candidate". The Independent. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  22. ↑ Mason, Rowena (23 March 2016). "Ukip suspends Suzanne Evans for disloyalty". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  23. ↑ "Suzanne Evans Suspended By Ukip After She Called For Candidate Who Compared Gays To Nazis To Be Axed". HuffPost UK. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  24. ↑ "UKIP vows to gut LGBT rights in extreme new manifesto". PinkNews. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  25. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated, Witney" (PDF).
  26. ↑ "UKIP picks anti-LGBT candidate who claimed gays were 'abused as children' to run in Lewisham East". PinkNews. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  27. ↑ "UKIP's LGBT officials resign in protest after anti-gay 'Gaystapo' campaigner named Families chief". PinkNews. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  28. ↑ Walker, Peter (6 September 2018). "Ukip toys with lifting ban on Tommy Robinson joining party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  29. ↑ Halliday, Josh (5 March 2019). "Far right 'infiltrating children's charities with anti-Islam agenda'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  30. ↑ "UKIP spokesman branded shameful over 'Holocaust of our children' Muslim jibe". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  31. ↑ "UKIP MEP says homophobic extremists have hijacked party". PinkNews. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  32. ↑ "Candidates revealed for European Parliament elections". Times and Star. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
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