View source for Robert Kilroy-Silk

{{Short description|British politician and broadcaster (born 1942)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder 
| image            = 
| honorific-prefix = 
| name             = Robert Kilroy-Silk
| honorific-suffix = 
| party            = [[Independent politician|Independent]] 
| otherparty       = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] (1974–1986)<br />[[UKIP]] (2004–05)<br />[[Veritas (political party)|Veritas]] (2005)
|office            = Leader of [[Veritas (political party)|Veritas]] 
|deputy            = [[Damian Hockney]]
|term_start        = 30 January 2005
|term_end          = 29 July 2005
|predecessor       = Office created
|successor         = Patrick Eston
| office1           = [[Member of the European Parliament]] <br /> for the [[East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|East Midlands]]
| parliament1       = 
| term_start1       = [[2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|10 June 2004]]
| term_end1         = [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|4 June 2009]]
| majority1         = 
| predecessor1      = [[Nick Clegg]]
| successor1        = ''Position abolished''
| office2          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Knowsley North]]
| parliament2      = 
| term_start2      = 9 June 1983
| term_end2        = 1 October 1986
| predecessor2     = ''Position established''
| successor2       = [[George Howarth]]
| office3          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Ormskirk]]
| parliament3      = 
| term_start3      = 28 February 1974
| term_end3        = 13 May 1983
| predecessor3     = [[Harold Soref]]
| successor3       = ''Position abolished''
| birth_name       = Robert Michael Silk
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1942|5|19}}
| birth_place      = [[Birmingham]], Warwickshire, England
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| nationality      = British
| spouse           = {{marriage|Jan Beech|1963}}
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = [[London School of Economics]]
| occupation       = Television presenter
| religion         = 
| signature        = 
| website          = 
| footnotes        = 
}}

'''Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk''' ([[Birth name|né]] '''Silk'''; born 19 May 1942) is an English former politician and broadcaster. After a decade as a university lecturer, he served as a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) from 1974 to 1986. He left the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1986 in order to present a new [[BBC Television]] daytime talk show, ''[[Kilroy (TV series)|Kilroy]]'', which ran until 2004. He returned to politics, serving as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) from 2004 to 2009. He had a significant role in the mainstreaming of [[Euroscepticism in the United Kingdom|Eurosceptic politics in the UK]]<ref name=Farage>{{cite news|url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/nigel-farage-robert-kilroy-silk-crackers-4743774|title=Farage: Robert Kilroy-Silk:went crackers |first=Jonathan|last=Maley|work=Birmingham Mail|date=29 June 2013|access-date=9 October 2019}}</ref> and has been dubbed 'The Godfather of [[Brexit]]'.<ref name=NewStatesman >{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2019/09/robert-kilroy-silk-godfather-brexit|title=Robert Kilroy-Silk: the godfather of Brexit|first=Patrick|last=Maguire|work=New Statesman|date=18 September 2019|access-date=22 September 2019}}</ref>

==Early life==
Kilroy-Silk was born in [[Birmingham]], son of William Silk, a [[Royal Navy]] leading stoker, and his wife Minnie Rose (''née'' Rooke). William Silk was lost at sea when aged 22, serving on {{HMS|Charybdis|88|6}}, which was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of [[Brittany]] by German [[torpedo boat]]s on 23 October 1943.<ref>{{CWGC|id=2487726|name=Silk, William|access-date=28 November 2024}} The CWGC records his wife as Rose Minnie Silk.</ref> His son was 17 months old.

Robert's mother Rose remarried in 1946, to family friend John Francis Kilroy, a car worker at the [[Rootes Group|Rootes]] plant in [[Warwickshire]]. He adopted the young boy, who from then used the surname Kilroy-Silk.

Kilroy-Silk failed his [[eleven-plus]] examination, for entry to selective schools, in 1953. He spent his first year at a [[secondary modern school]] and later passed the review exam and went to Saltley Grammar School, [[Saltley]], Birmingham. He attended the [[London School of Economics]] to study politics and economics.<ref>{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/magazine/09KILROY.html | title= The Anti Europeanist | work=The New York Times | first=Christopher | last=Caldwell | date=9 January 2005 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

==Marriage and early career==
In 1963, Kilroy-Silk married Jan Beech,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=b71r%2FDncPG4lIjPkOrCsnQ&scan=1|title=
Marriages Mar 1963 – KILROY-SILK ROBERT M. BEECH|website=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref> daughter of a [[shop steward]]. The couple met when he was 18 and she was 17.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-02-10 |title=why Kilroy's still here Robert Kilroy-Silk earns a fortune listening to the details of other people's tragedies. Is this a worthwhile way for a former MP to earn a living? |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12149016.why-kilroys-still-here-robert-kilroy-silk-earns-a-fortune-listening-to-the-details-of-other-peoples-tragedies-is-this-a-worthwhile-way-for-a-former-mp-to-earn-a-living/ |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=The Herald |language=en}}</ref> They have a son and a daughter.<ref>{{Citation|title=Index entries|publisher=ONS, FreeBMD}} [https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=wkLxOc%2B89lhnBMk%2FHLVzYA&scan=1 Dominic] [https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=X0LRKCYxrQaEfYl3jZOFZQ&scan=1 Natasha]</ref>

After graduation he became a lecturer in politics at the [[University of Liverpool]], serving from 1966 to 1974.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/the-saturday-profile-robert-kilroysilk-the-selfstyled-saviour-of-britain-731102.html|title=Robert Kilroy-Silk; the self-styled saviour of Britain|last=Valelly|first=Paul|date=5 June 2004|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=2 February 2009}}</ref> He published a theoretical work, ''Socialism since Marx'', in 1972.<ref name=NewStatesman /> Kilroy-Silk moved to [[Warleigh House]] in Plymouth in 2015 with his wife.

==Labour Member of Parliament==
At the [[February 1974 United Kingdom general election|February 1974 general election]], Kilroy-Silk was elected as a Labour MP for the [[Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Ormskirk]] constituency in [[Lancashire]].  He remained its MP until its abolition at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]], when he was elected to represent the new [[Knowsley North]] seat; he held this until his [[resignation from the House of Commons]] in 1986. In an article for ''[[The Times]]'' in 1975, Kilroy-Silk argued that politics was not "compromises and bargains" or hankering after "a spurious consensus". He wrote that the function of government, particularly a Labour government, was 
<blockquote>"to impose its values on society. Its role is creative: to cast, so far as it is able, society in its image". Furthermore, socialists should not be worried about being accused of dictatorial powers; they must go forward with "a tint of arrogance".<ref>Robert Kilroy-Silk, "Labour must not be frightened of making socialism work", ''The Times'', 29 April 1975.</ref></blockquote>The next year he was quoted as saying, "the Labour Party must always be a class party, for it is a class war we are fighting".<ref name="counterpoint20101108">{{cite episode | url= https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/counterpoint/the-uk-in-the-1970s/2974294 | title=The UK in the 1970s | series=Counterpoint | credits=Comrie-Thomson, Paul; Coombe, Ian | network=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | airdate=8 November 2010}}</ref>

Kilroy-Silk was appointed Shadow [[Home Affairs]] spokesman, resigning in 1985. In resigning his seat, he said that he had been assaulted by members of the [[Militant tendency|Militant]] group and was reported to have had a scuffle with left-wing Labour MP [[Jeremy Corbyn]].<ref>Robert Chalmers [https://web.archive.org/web/20141121022340/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/robert-kilroysilk-here-comes-trouble-6168308.html "Robert Kilroy-Silk: Here Comes Trouble"], ''Independent on Sunday'', 6 June 2004.</ref> He wrote a book about his experiences, entitled ''Hard Labour'', and subsequently left the Labour Party.

==Television and journalism==
===''Kilroy''===
His talk show ''[[Kilroy (TV series)|Kilroy]]'' started on 24 November 1986. Originally called ''Day to Day'', the programme was renamed to ''Kilroy'' in September 1987. It ran until 2004 when it was cancelled by the BBC in reaction to the publication of an article by Kilroy-Silk entitled "We owe Arabs nothing" which was published in the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' on 4 January 2004. This provoked considerable controversy.<ref name="caabu.org">[http://www.caabu.org/campaigns/kilroy-article.html Robert Kilroy-Silk, "We owe Arabs nothing"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226122632/http://www.caabu.org/campaigns/kilroy-article.html |date=26 December 2004 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2019}}

===Ireland===
In 1992, Kilroy made a comment regarding Ireland in his ''[[Daily Express]]'' column, under the guise of attacking [[Ray MacSharry]], a former Irish government minister and EU commissioner, whom he described as "a redundant second-rate politician from a country peopled by priests, peasants and pixies".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=My7bPb1XnVIC&dq=country%20peopled%20by%20priests%2C%20peasants%20and%20pixies&pg=PA129 ''Cranks and Gadflies: The Story of Ukip''], Mark Daniel, Timewell Press, 2005, page 129</ref> This was condemned by the then [[List of ambassadors of Ireland to the United Kingdom|Irish ambassador to the UK]], Joseph Small, for its "gratuitously offensive and indeed racist remarks".<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/tolerance-of-racism-exposed-1.446241 Tolerance of racism exposed], ''[[Irish Times]]'', 24 May 2005</ref> The newspaper's editor, [[Nicholas Lloyd|Sir Nicholas Lloyd]], apologised to MacSharry and the Irish people in general, while Kilroy added: "I accept that my references to Mr MacSharry and the Irish people were both offensive and unjustified, and I fully associate myself with this apology."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ODRbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Under+a+154+word%22 ''The Obelisk Year''], Críostóir Ó Floinn, Obelisk Books, 1993, page 94</ref>

===''Shafted''===
In 2001, Kilroy-Silk hosted a television programme on [[ITV1]] called ''[[Shafted]]''. It was a quiz-show and at the end of the show, Kilroy-Silk would ask players whether they wished to "share" or to "shaft", with accompanying hand gestures.<ref>{{Citation |title=Share or Shaft | date=23 May 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdKFcOssnA |access-date=2023-08-18 |language=en}}</ref>

The show was cancelled after four episodes, with sixteen recordings unaired, due to falling ratings. The ''Penguin TV Companion'' (2006) ranked it as the worst British television show of the 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/24/ucomedy.xml |title=Racist stereotypes 'make the worst TV'|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212203337/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F10%2F24%2Fucomedy.xml |archive-date=12 December 2007  }}</ref>

===''We owe Arabs nothing''===
The BBC cancelled the ''Kilroy'' show in January 2004 after an opinion article, entitled "We owe Arabs nothing", by Kilroy-Silk was published in the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' on 4 January 2004.<ref name="caabu.org"/><ref>Sunday Express 4 January 2004 page 25, ''We owe Arabs nothing''</ref> The article had first been published in April 2003 by the same paper and 'republished in error' according to Kilroy-Silk.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3386451.stm | work=BBC News | title=Kilroy defends Arab states attack | date=11 January 2004 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> It did not attract much national attention when first published. According to Faisal Bodi, a columnist for ''[[The Guardian]]'', the reaction at its second publication was a measure of "the increasing organisation of the Muslim community". Bodi added:
 
{{blockquote|Kilroy-Silk's suspension was precipitated by a flurry of web messages and emails circulated by various Muslim organisations notifying people of the outrage. The circulars from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, the [[Muslim Council of Britain]], the [[Islamic Human Rights Commission]] and the Islamic Affairs Central Network, to mention a few, were focused, informative and, above all, empowering. They contained a chronology of Kilroyisms, names and contacts of editors at the BBC and the ''Sunday Express'', and instructions on how to make complaints. In the end, the BBC was left with little choice.<ref name=guardianbodi/>}}

The article was strongly criticised by the [[Commission for Racial Equality]], whose head, [[Trevor Phillips]], said that the affair could have a "hugely unhelpful" effect. Bodi wrote that Kilroy-Silk should be prosecuted for [[incitement to racial hatred]]. He said that Kilroy-Silk had also written statements critical of [[Muslims]] in 1989, during the [[Salman Rushdie]] affair, and in a 1995 article in the ''[[Daily Express]]''.<ref name=guardianbodi>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/race/story/0,11374,1120849,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Islamophobia should be as unacceptable as racism | date=12 January 2004 | access-date=22 May 2010 | first=Faisal | last=Bodi}}</ref>

By contrast, Ibrahim Nawar, the head of Arab Press Freedom Watch, came out in support of Kilroy-Silk in a ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' article. He said the politician was "an advocate of freedom of expression" and that he agreed with much of what Kilroy-Silk had said about Arab regimes.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1451396/Kilroy-Silk-is-right-about-the-Middle-East-say-Arabs.html | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Kilroy-Silk is right about the Middle East, say Arabs | date=11 January 2004 | access-date=25 October 2013| first=Ibrahim | last=Nawar}}</ref>

A spokeswoman for Kilroy-Silk told ''[[The Observer]]'', "[[Tokenism|He is not a racist at all – he employs a black driver]]", a quote which is sometimes incorrectly attributed to Kilroy-Silk.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/jan/11/bbc.race | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=One keystroke that rocked Kilroy-Silk | first=David | last=Smith | date=11 January 2004 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

===''Have I Got News for You''===
Kilroy-Silk appeared as a guest on ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' on 30 April 2004. There was a heated exchange between him and his teammate [[Paul Merton]], in which Merton repeatedly implored Kilroy-Silk to "shut the fuck up". This was edited out of the televised episode but a clip from the recording appeared on social media some years later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=@tomselsocial |date=30 April 2024 |title=20 years ago today Paul Merton told Robert Kilroy Silk to shut the fuck up 👏It didn't air in the televised episode, but here's the clip from the recording. #HIGNFY |url=https://x.com/tomselsocial/status/1785404137011609676 |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref>

==Eurosceptic politics==

===UKIP===
In 2004, Kilroy-Silk was recruited to the [[UK Independence Party]] (UKIP). During that year's [[2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|European Parliament election]] campaign he presented one of the [[party political broadcast]]s. His recruitment and celebrity significantly raised the profile of the party,<ref name=Farage /><ref name=NewStatesman /> further helped by his enlisting of actress [[Joan Collins]] who attended a UKIP press conference at Kilroy-Silk's invitation.

====Election to the European Parliament====
Kilroy-Silk stood on the UKIP list for the [[East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|East Midlands constituency]] and was elected as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) in the second seat for his region.The election used a [[closed list]] form of [[proportional representation]]; UKIP scored 26.05 per cent of the vote in that region, just behind the Conservatives with 26.39 per cent.

====Leadership challenge====
In the [[2004 Hartlepool by-election]], UKIP came third, ahead of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]. The next day, in an interview on ''[[Breakfast with Frost]]'' ([[BBC]]), Kilroy-Silk expressed ambition to lead UKIP and criticised the party's leader [[Roger Knapman]].

Following this, businessman and friend [[Paul Sykes (businessman)|Paul Sykes]] announced his intention to cease his partial funding of UKIP and to return his support to the Conservatives, as he feared that the [[Eurosceptic]] vote might be split. The branch chairmen of UKIP were canvassed on their opinion regarding Kilroy-Silk's challenge for the party leadership. Only a minority (13%) were sympathetic to him; Kilroy-Silk did not think this was significant, as he believed that too few party members had been consulted. Party officials threatened him with disciplinary action if he continued his challenge.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

On 27 October 2004, Kilroy-Silk officially announced that he had withdrawn from the UKIP whip in the European Parliament, branding the party "incompetent". But, he said that he would remain as an independent member of UKIP, and would continue to challenge for the leadership.

UKIP's constitution states that 70 days' notice is required before a leadership ballot can take place. With the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|next general election in the UK]] expected in spring 2005, Kilroy-Silk pushed for an emergency general meeting of the party as early as possible. On 3 November 2004, Kilroy-Silk said he intended to be leader by Christmas, though this would have been impossible under the rules.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

In Manchester on 3 December 2004 at about 7.15 p.m., Kilroy-Silk was attacked outside the Girls' High School, when a bucket of manure was thrown over him as he arrived for a recording of the BBC Radio 4's ''[[Any Questions]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/man-held-over-kilroy-silk-manure-1055453|title = Man held over Kilroy-Silk manure attack|date = 30 June 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5797316.kilroy-silk-attack-man-arrested/|title = Kilroy-Silk attack: Man arrested| date=28 January 2005 }}</ref>

On 20 January 2005, Kilroy-Silk announced that he had left UKIP; he had been a member for nine months.

===Veritas===
On 30 January 2005 Kilroy-Silk launched a new political party [[Veritas (political party)|Veritas]], promising to take the fight to the "supercilious metropolitan elite".<ref name=NewStatesman /> [[Damian Hockney]], UKIP's leader in the [[London Assembly]], had defected to Veritas, becoming its first Deputy Leader.

UKIP members and some journalists dubbed Kilroy-Silk's new party "Vanitas", meaning a party acting as a vehicle for its founder's vanity.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jan/17/otherparties.uk|title=Kilroy asked to leave Ukip|last1=Tempest|first1=Matthew|date=17 January 2005|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 September 2019|last2=agencies|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

On 31 January 2005, a television programme, ''Kilroy: Behind the Tan'', was broadcast on the BBC. Created in documentary style, it followed the politician from his election as an MEP for UKIP to his leaving the party.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

The party was formally launched on 2 February 2005 at Hinckley Golf Club in [[Hinckley]], Leicestershire.

In early February 2005, Kilroy-Silk worked on a [[Channel 4]] television programme called ''Kilroy and the Gypsies''. He spent a week living with a family of [[Romani people|Romany Gypsies]] at a campsite in [[Bedfordshire]] to explore their lives. He also interviewed residents of surrounding villages.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/feb/12/otherparties.media | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Political caravan no easy ride for Kilroy-Silk | first=Mark | last=Honigsbaum | date=12 February 2005 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

In the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]], Kilroy-Silk contested the seat of [[Erewash (UK Parliament constituency)|Erewash]], but came in fourth with 5.8%, just above the 5% level needed to save his deposit. He tried to press charges against a man who, he said, "smashed a bottle of water against the side of his head" while the politician was being interviewed by a European television crew outside a supermarket. The alleged assailant said he had squirted Kilroy-Silk with water from a plastic bottle before running away; this account was confirmed by the TV crew, which also filmed the incident. The police decided not to prosecute.

On 12 July 2005, party member Ken Wharton announced his intention to challenge Kilroy-Silk for the leadership, claiming party members were "not being looked after". Discontented party members set up the Veritas Members' Association to "put the truth back into Veritas".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4675795.stm | work=BBC News | title=Kilroy faces leadership challenge | date=12 July 2005 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

On 29 July 2005, Veritas announced the resignation of Kilroy-Silk as party leader.<ref name="resign">{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4728941.stm | work=BBC News | title=Kilroy quits as leader of Veritas | date=29 July 2005 | access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> In his resignation statement, he said: 
<blockquote>"It was clear from the general election result – and more recently that of the [[2005 Cheadle by-election|Cheadle by-election]] – that the electors are content with the old parties and that it would be virtually impossible for a new party to make a significant impact given the nature of our electoral system. We tried and failed."<ref name="resign"/></blockquote>

In August 2005, four of the MEPs for the East Midlands region ([[Derek Clark|Clark]], [[Christopher Heaton-Harris|Heaton-Harris]], [[Roger Helmer|Helmer]] and [[Phillip Whitehead|Whitehead]]) sent a joint letter to President of the European Parliament [[Josep Borrell]] complaining about Kilroy-Silk: 
<blockquote>"He seems to have done little or no work as a constituency MEP for the East Midlands. This leaves five MEPs to do the work of six and the electorate have been short-changed". They went on to complain that Kilroy-Silk was not "fulfilling the pledge he made on becoming an MEP, to serve the electorate of his region" and to call for him to "either do the job for which he is paid, or get out and leave it to those who can."<ref name="kilroy">Stares, Justin. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081206003209/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1496182/Kilroy-Silk-does-%27little-or-no-work%27-and-should-quit,-say-MEPs.html Kilroy-Silk does 'little or no work' and should quit, say MEPs], ''The Telegraph,''  13 August 2005. Quote: "A cross-party coalition has called for Robert Kilroy-Silk to quit the European Parliament on the grounds that he seldom attends and does "little or no work" for his East Midlands constituency. [...] His four regional colleagues – Christopher Heaton-Harris (Conservative), Roger Helmer (Conservative), Phillip Whitehead (Labour) and Derek Clark (Ukip) – said they "deplore" Mr Kilroy-Silk's non-attendance. "He seems to have done little or no work as a constituency MEP for the East Midlands. This leaves five MEPs to do the work of six and the electorate have been short-changed," they wrote. "Mr Kilroy-Silk should either do the job for which he is paid, or get out and leave it to those who can." The parliament has no power to remove Mr Kilroy-Silk, who is understood to have attended the minimum number of plenary sessions required to be eligible for his parliamentary allowances.</ref></blockquote>The European Parliament does not have any power to expel a member, and Borrell took no action.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

Kilroy-Silk, who was elected to the European Parliament on the UKIP list, remained a member of the Veritas Party, but sat as an Independent MEP. Some Veritas members were reported to have questioned why he was allowed to continue as a party member.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

In November 2008 [[Derek Clark]] MEP complained that Kilroy-Silk was taking his parliamentary wage while being paid to appear in the [[I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (UK series 8)|2008 edition]] of the reality TV show ''I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!''.<ref name="complaint">{{cite news | title = MEPs attack jungle-bound Kilroy | publisher = BBC News | date = 15 November 2008 | url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7731688.stm | access-date = 4 May 2009 | first=Chris | last=Mason}}</ref> In his opinion the TV show represented a conflict of interest.<ref name="complaint"/> Kilroy-Silk was the first contestant to be voted out.<ref>{{cite book |last=Busk-Cowley |first=Mark |title=I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!: The Inside Story |publisher=[[Bantam Press]] |date=2014 |pages=140 |isbn=978-0593073483}}</ref>

Kilroy-Silk's name was absent from the list of candidates published on 7 May 2009 for the [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2009 European Parliament election]]. His membership was terminated when the European Parliament reconvened on 17 July 2009.<ref>{{cite news| title=Kilroy-Silk to leave European Parliament| publisher=This Is Nottingham| date=7 May 2009 | url=http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Kilroy-Silk-leave-European-Parliament/article-973325-detail/article.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510235920/http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/homenews/Kilroy-Silk-leave-European-Parliament/article-973325-detail/article.html | archive-date=10 May 2009 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 7 November 2009, he appeared as a panellist on the BBC's ''[[Question Time (TV series)|Question Time]]'' programme.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb name|id=1090236|name=Robert Kilroy-Silk}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-robert-kilroy-silk | Robert Kilroy-Silk }}
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3383875.stm Kilroy quits as leader of Veritas]
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4189537.stm "Kilroy-Silk quits 'shameful' UKIP"] at [[BBC]] News

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|eu}}
{{succession box
| before = unknown
| title  = [[Member of European Parliament]] for [[East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|East Midlands]]
| years  = [[2004 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2004]] – [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2009]]
| after  = unknown
}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Harold Soref]] }}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Ormskirk (UK Parliament constituency)|Ormskirk]]
| years = 1974–1983
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency abolished }}

{{s-new | constituency }}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Knowsley North]]
| years = 1983–1986
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[George Howarth]] }}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-new|party}}
{{s-ttl|title=Leader of [[Veritas (political party)|Veritas]]|years=2005}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Patrick Eston]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{UKIP}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilroy-Silk, Robert}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Liverpool]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:BBC television presenters]]
[[Category:British broadcaster-politicians]]
[[Category:British political party founders]]
[[Category:English Eurosceptics]]
[[Category:English television talk show hosts]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:MEPs for England 2004–2009]]
[[Category:People educated at Saltley Grammar School]]
[[Category:Politicians from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:Mass media people from Birmingham, West Midlands]]
[[Category:Politics of Lancashire]]
[[Category:Politics of Merseyside]]
[[Category:UK Independence Party MEPs]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1974–1979]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:Veritas (political party) MEPs]]
[[Category:Veritas (political party) politicians]]