Malcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch

The Right Honourable The Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
In office 27 November 2009 – 02 September 2010
Preceded by	Nigel Farage
Succeeded by	Jeffrey Titford
Member of the House of Lords
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 June 1990
Personal details
Born	Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson 20 July 1942 (1942-07-20) (age 69) Devizes, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Political party	UKIP
Other political affiliations	Conservative (until 2007)

Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch (born 20 July 1942, Devizes, Wiltshire) is a British businessman and the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). He is a member of the House of Lords.^[1]

Biography

Born in Devizes, the son of John M. Pearson and Rosabel C Moysey, and educated at Eton College, Pearson had a successful career in international insurance until he resigned on becoming leader of UKIP.

He was made a life peer on 18 June 1990 as Baron Pearson of Rannoch, of Bridge of Gaur in the District of Perth and Kinross, sitting as a Conservative. He entered the House for services to the insurance industry, particularly his anti-corruption stance on the 'Savonita' affair.^[2]

In February 1997, Hugo Gurdon published an interview in the Daily Telegraph with Pearson, discussing his metaphysical and political beliefs and motivations.^[3][4]

Pearson became Treasurer of the degree-awarding body to the Polytechnic sector, Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) serving from 1983-1992.

A daughter from his second marriage, born in 1980, introduced him to the world of learning disabilities for which he has done extensive work and fundraising, in particular for the Camphill movement.

Pearson is a euro-sceptic of long standing.^[5] In May 2004, he called for voters to back the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Along with three other Conservative peers, he was then expelled by the Conservative Party on 30 May. He subsequently said that he would probably sit as an "independent Conservative". He threatened to quit the Conservatives to join UKIP, which he did on 7 January 2007,^[6] along with Lord Willoughby de Broke.^[7] He criticised the Conservative Party's leadership for being "silly" and argued that they should try to get UKIP members back into the fold by adopting more eurosceptic policies themselves. He has tabled a number of unsuccessful bills in the House of Lords demanding Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. In November 2006 he tabled the European Union (Implications of Withdrawal) Bill^[8] which called for an official cost benefit analysis of our EU membership. He joined the United Kingdom Independence Party on January 7th 2007, citing David Cameron's refusal to tell the British people about the disadvantages they suffer because of Britain's membership of the EU.

He is also the co-founder of a pro free trade think-tank, Global Britain,^[9] which publishes research on the BBC's EU coverage and on the cost of UK membership, in bullet-point format.

He is a supporter of the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance, serving as chairman of its deerstalking committee.

Pearson has been married three times: to Francesca Frua de Angeli in 1965, with whom he had one daughter and whom he divorced in 1970; to the Hon. Mary Charteris in 1977, with whom he had two daughters and whom he divorced in 1995; and to Caroline St Vincent Rose in 1997 - she stood as the UKIP candidate in Kensington in the UK general election in 2010, coming 4th with 754 votes.

In February 2009, Lord Pearson courted controversy when he and cross-bencher Baroness Cox invited Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders to show the anti-Islam film Fitna before the House of Lords.^[10] However, Wilders was prevented from entering the UK on the instructions of the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith.^[11] In response, Pearson and Cox accused the then Government of "appeasing" militant Islam.^[12] Wilders appealed successfully against his exclusion, and the film was eventually shown in the Lords in 2010.

In September 2009 Pearson announced his candidacy in the 2009 UKIP leadership election.^[13][14] He won the election and was announced the new leader of UKIP on 27 November 2009. He resigned his leadership in August 2010, saying he was "not much good at party politics".^[15][16]

Support for Soviet dissidents

During the Cold War, Lord Pearson became famous as a leading critic of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and by his support for Soviet dissidents. ^[17] Pearson worked closely with the Russian author and dissent Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to ensure that funds reached other artists and dissents working inside the Soviet Union, and hosted Solzhenitsyn on his Rannoch estate. ^[18] In 1984 Pearson established the Rannoch Charitable Trust, which funded many refugees escaping from the Soviet Union. In recognition of his efforts Pearson was awarded in 2007 the Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson Award For Values and Vision in Politics.^[19]

Expenses controversy

Shortly after Pearson's election as UKIP leader in 2009, the Daily Telegraph reported that he had claimed more than £115,000 in Parliamentary expenses between 2001 and 2007, having designated his £3.7m house in London as his principle residence for tax purposes, and his estate in Scotland as his main residence. He was thus not liable for £275,000 in capital gains tax when he sold his London house in 2006.^[20]

Previously he had spoken of the disconnect between ordinary people and the political class. In reply, Pearson argued that he spent "half the year" at his Scottish estate, pointed out that the sum covered several years in expenses, and explained that working as a public servant had cost him 'millions' as a result of having to give up salaried work^[21]

References

1. ^ "Lord Pearson of Rannoch". Lord Pearson of Rannoch. http://www.lordpearsonofrannoch.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
2. ^ "Pay up and play the game", Investors Chronicle, 15 December 1978 and "Unsavoury Savonita", The Economist, 16 December 1978
3. ^ "God's Euro-sceptic" Daily Telegraph, 1 February 1997
4. ^ Daily Telegraph letters "Don't bomb Kohl". 3 February 1997
5. ^ Barwick, Sandra (6 December 2000). "Euro-sceptic peer attacks BBC's 'raging Europhiles'". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1377214/Euro-sceptic-peer-attacks-BBCs-raging-Europhiles.html. Retrieved 4 June 2009. 
6. ^ The Times^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "UK | UK Politics | Conservative peers defect to UKIP". BBC News. 2007-01-09. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6243807.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
8. ^ "Bills and Legislation - European Union (Implications of Withdrawal) Bill". Publications.parliament.uk. 2007-06-19. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/european_union_implications_of_withdrawal.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
9. ^ "Global Britain". Global Britain. http://www.globalbritain.org/. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
10. ^ "UK | UK Politics | Dutch MP banned from entering UK". BBC News. 2009-02-12. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7882953.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
11. ^ The Guardian, "Far-right Dutch MP refused entry to UK", 12 February 2009
12. ^ The Daily Telegraph, "Dutch MP Geert Wilders deported after flying to Britain to show anti-Islamic film", 12 February 2009
13. ^ "UKIP leadership: Runners and riders", BBC News, 19 November 2009
14. ^ Former Tory peer favourite for Ukip leadership, The Daily Telegraph, 15 September 2009.
15. ^ Lord Pearson resigns as leader of UKIP, The Daily Telegraph, 17 August 2010.
16. ^ "Independent Thinker", Spectator, 21 August 2010.
17. ^ "/ Columnists / Lunch with the FT - Lunch with the FT: Lord Pearson of Rannoch". Ft.com. 2010-03-19. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/3eb73970-32de-11df-bf5f-00144feabdc0.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
18. ^ "Centre for Research into post Communist Economies, No. 33 November 2008". http://www.crce.org.uk/news/news33.doc. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
19. ^ Lord Macolm Pearson wins Henry "Scoop" Jackson Award 2007 Jerusalem Summit. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
20. ^ Swaine, Jon (2009-12-01). "UKIP leader Lord Pearson claimed £100,000 allowances for £3.7m London home". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6692856/UKIP-leader-Lord-Pearson-claimed-100000-allowances-for-3.7m-London-home.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
21. ^ Swaine, Jon (2009-11-29). "UKIP leader Lord Pearson claimed £100,000 allowances for £3.7m London home". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6686068/UKIP-leader-Lord-Pearson-claimed-100000-allowances-for-3.7m-London-home.html. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 

External links

• Lord Pearson on the UKIP website

Party political offices
Preceded by Nigel Farage	Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party 2009 – 2010	Succeeded by Jeffrey Titford

Persondata
Name	Pearson Of Rannoch
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 July 1942
Place of birth	Devizes, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Date of death
Place of death