{{Short description|British politician (born 1936)}} {{for|the British philosopher|Christopher Gill (philosopher)}} {{BLP sources|date=December 2010}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Christopher Gill | honorific_suffix = RD | image = Christopher Gill 2010.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Gill in 2010 | constituency_MP = Ludlow | parliament = | majority = | term_start = 11 June 1987 | term_end = 14 May 2001 | predecessor = Eric Cockeram | successor = Matthew Green | birth_name = Christopher John Freddy Gill | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|10|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Wolverhampton, England | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | party = UKIP (2006–present) <br /> Conservative (until 2001) | other_party = | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Christopher John Fred Gill''' RD (born 28 October 1936) is a British politician, and a former member of the National Executive Committee of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). He is the president of The Freedom Association (TFA). A former Conservative Party Member of Parliament, he was one of the Maastricht Rebels of the mid-1990s.

==Biography== Gill was born in Wolverhampton, where he later became a local councillor, and was educated locally at Birchfield Preparatory School, then at Shrewsbury School. His national service was in the Royal Navy, serving aboard {{HMS|Modeste|U42|6}} and {{HMS|Birmingham|C19|6}}. He retired as Chairman of his family's sausage-making business, F.A. Gill Ltd., in 2006.

Gill served as Conservative MP for Ludlow from 1987 to 2001, when he stepped down. He was known as the "Butcher from Ludlow" because of his family company being a meat processing firm.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} He had the Conservative whip withdrawn over the EC Finance Bill on 28 November 1994.

As a constituency MP, Gill fought against the closure of local cottage hospitals. Gill was also known for being an expert on areas of European Union legislation, and he was a notable Eurosceptic.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Shortly before leaving Parliament in 2001, he resigned his membership of the Conservatives. In 2006, Gill announced that he had joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP), having endorsed the party's policies at the 2004 European Parliament election. He was an elected member of UKIP's National Executive Committee from 2007 until 2010. He stood for Ludlow as a UKIP candidate at the 2010 general election, coming fourth with 2,127 votes, 4.4% of the total, losing his deposit but almost tripling the 2005 vote. At the time of the election, Gill stated that his reasoning for standing was: "I am standing against 'call me Dave's' Tories because I cannot tolerate their utter contempt for the concerns of voters on matters of immigration, economy, individual liberty and the broken promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty."<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/8564184.stm Former Tory MP to stand for UKIP in Ludlow]</ref>

He was chairman of The Freedom Association from 2001, before becoming its president in 2007.

==Publications== *{{cite book |title=Whip's Nightmare: Diary of a Maastricht Rebel |isbn=978-1841040868 |publisher=The Memoir Club |date=2003}} *{{cite book |title=Cracking the Whip |isbn=978-1909099067 |publisher=Bretwalda Books |date=13 Dec 2012}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * {{Official website|http://vote-gill.info/}} * {{Hansard-contribs|mr-christopher-gill|Christopher Gill}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Ludlow | years = 1987–2001 | before = Eric Cockeram | after = Matthew Green }} {{s-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Christopher}} Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Wolverhampton Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:People educated at Shrewsbury School Category:Councillors in Wolverhampton Category:Military personnel from Wolverhampton Category:20th-century Royal Navy personnel Category:Royal Navy sailors Category:UK MPs 1987–1992 Category:UK MPs 1992–1997 Category:UK MPs 1997–2001 Category:UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire Category:Members of the Freedom Association Category:Conservative Party (UK) councillors Category:British Eurosceptics