Jane Collins

For theEastEnderscharacter, seeJane Beale.

Jane Collins
Collins in 2014
UKIPSpokesperson for Home Affairs
In office 2 December 2016 – 18 October 2017
Leader	Paul Nuttall Steve Crowther(Acting) Henry Bolton
Preceded by	Diane James
Succeeded by	Richard Bingley
OtherUKIPoffices UKIPSpokesperson for Justice In office 16 September 2016 – 6 December 2016 Leader Diane James Nigel Farage(Acting) Preceded by Diane James Succeeded by Peter Jewell UKIPSpokesperson for Work and Pensions In office 24 July 2014 – 2 December 2016 Leader Nigel Farage Diane James Nigel Farage (Acting) Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Andrew Charalambous
Member of the European Parliament forYorkshire and the Humber
In office 1 July 2014–1 July 2019
Preceded by	Edward McMillan-Scott
Succeeded by	John Longworth
Personal details
Born	(1962-02-17)17 February 1962 Pontefract,West Riding of Yorkshire,England
Political party	UK Independence Party(until April 2019) Brexit Party(since April 2019)

Jane Maria Collins(born 17 February 1962) is a British politician and horse show-jumper who served as aMember of the European Parliament(MEP) forYorkshire and the Humberfrom 2014 to 2019. She waselected in May 2014as a member of theUK Independence Party(UKIP), but defected to the Brexit Party in 2019 in the last months of her membership of the European Parliament.

Collins served as UKIP's spokesperson on Employment law, Home Affairs and most recently on Animal Welfare. On 15 April 2019 she announced that she was leaving the party to join the Brexit Party.

Early life and career

Collins was born inPontefract,West Riding of Yorkshireand attended East Hardwick Junior School andPontefract and District Girls High School,leaving at 18 with four GCE O-levels and a GCE A-level in Art.

On leaving school, Collins opted against going to college, preferring to develop an equestrian career. She began her equestrian career with a racehorse training establishment inMoss, South Yorkshire.From there she moved to Clarehaven Stables owned by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. At Clarehaven she became Head girl to Trainer Alex Stewart. In 1985 her family moved toSelbyand eventually bought a stable and livery yard atWillitoftwhich she helped run. During this time she was involved in showing horses and show-jumping at the highest national levels. An equine physiotherapist, she met Katie Bloom with whom she formed a partnership in 1995.Katie Bloom was (and remains) married toGodfrey Bloom,who later became aUK Independence Party(UKIP)MEP.Collins became interested in the party,which she joined in 2003.

Political views

Interviewed by theObserverahead of the September 2014 UKIP conference and therefore unable to discuss their new policies, Collins described herself as a "progressive libertarian". Referring to comments made by Godfrey Bloom on international aid (in a speech in which he referred to "Bongo-Bongo land"),she said that they were valid but badly expressed. She was concerned about "a developing health problem" inSheffieldin relation to theRomacommunity of Slovak origin. She claimed they had a higher incidence ofhepatitis B—the subject of a planned vaccination program—which would put a greater strain on the health service. She also called for those indigenous children who are in close contact with the Roma to be vaccinated as well. In conclusion, journalist Daniel Boffey said Collins would continue Bloom's tradition of stirring controversy.

Political career

Barnsley Central by-election, 2011

Collins stood for UKIP in the March 2011Barnsley Central by-electiontriggered by the resignation ofLabourMPEric Illsleyover theUK parliamentary expenses scandal.She came second to Labour'sDan Jarvis,winning 12% of the vote.This was the first time a UKIP candidate had come second in any election.

Rotherham by-election, 2012

She again stood for UKIP in the November 2012Rotherham by-electiontriggered by the resignation of Labour MPDenis MacShane,also over the expenses scandal. She came second to Labour'sSarah Champion,winning almost 22% of the vote. It was at the time the highest share of the vote achieved by UKIP in a by-election.The by-election took place almost parallel with the inaugural police and crime commissioner elections. The timing combined with press reports concerning child sexual exploitation in Rotherham led to questions about the selection of the Labour candidate for police and crime commissioner, Shaun Wright who had been the cabinet member of the council responsible for children's services. During theby-election campaigna row also emerged afterRotherham'sLabour council removed threefoster childrenfrom the care of their foster parents, which theDaily Telegraphwrongly attributed to their membership of UKIP.However, in May 2013, Rotherham council apologised, saying that communication about the decision gave the impression that it related to the couple's UKIP membership.This impression was incorrect; the children were removed because it was in their "best interests", though full details couldn't be given "for legal reasons".The council said it had "taken action to strengthen the way it made decisions and how it communicated information."

Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency) 2014

She was selected to top the party's regional list forYorkshire and the Humberin the2014 European Parliament elections.Former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom stated that he gave her his "wholehearted support" and that she "is almost certainly going to be the next UKIP MEP".

Row over her campaigning in South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner by-election

In November 2014, whilst campaigning for UKIP in the2014 South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner by-election,Collins appeared to imply thatMark Russell,head of the evangelistic charityChurch Army,was a paedophile. Russell had posted support for theLabour Partycandidate in the by-election; this prompted Collins to tweet "Yes because we’d soon stop your criminal activity. Paedos leave our kids alone. #UKIP". Collins originally refused to apologise, but eventually deleted the tweet and offered to make a donation to the charity after Russell threatened to sue her. Her tweet followed accusations that UKIP exploited the suffering ofRotherham sex abusevictims for political gain in the by-election. One victim denounced the party's tactics as "disrespectful" after it launched a "1,400 reasons to vote" campaign, in reference to the estimated number of victims in the city between 1997 and 2013.

Collins' allegation was retweeted many times by UKIP supporters. In her defence, Collins said she apologised unreservedly and admitted “I’m a bit hot headed sometimes.”

Rotherham general election 2015

She stood again for UKIP in Rotherham during the May 2015 general election. Once again she came second in the Labour safe seat, achieving over 30% of the share of the vote. It was one of the highest shares of votes achieved by UKIP candidates during the 2015 general election.

Defamation action

In September 2014 at a UKIP conference, Collins falsely alleged that three MPs,Sarah Champion,John HealeyandKevin Barronhad known aboutwidespread child sex abuse in Rotherhamand failed to do anything about it. There was a live broadcast of the event on theBBC Parliamenttelevision channel.

The three MPs took legal action (they launched the action in 2014 and UKIP financially assisted Collins' defence). Defamation proceedings in a British court were placed on hold in May 2016 when Collins claimed her position as an MEP granted her immunity from prosecution. Under EU law "MEPs shall not be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast by them in the performance of their duties".However, in October the European Parliament ruled that immunity did not apply in this case. Ms Collins said the ruling was "one lost battle in a war of words I'm determined to win". Ms Collins added she believed there were grounds for an appeal and was determined to fight the decision to make the "voices of Rotherham sexual exploitation survivors and their families heard". In a statement, the three MPs said "We welcome the decision of the European Parliament and hope this matter can at long last now be brought to a conclusion in the High Court. This has gone on for over two years and she has tried every delaying tactic she can - including the absurd irony of a UKIP Euro MP trying to claim immunity from the European Parliament to avoid facing justice in the British courts."In February 2017, the High Court ruled that Collins should pay £54,000 in damages to each of the three MPs plus a contribution tolegal costs.However, she failed to pay within the required timescale. It was reported at the beginning of 2018 that payment was still outstanding.

Third-party legal costs

In February 2018, following Collins' failure to pay, a High Court judge ruled that UKIP wasjointly and severallyliable with Collins for some of the costs. This liability arose because UKIP was held to have delayed settlement of the case before theUnited Kingdom general election of 2015for party political reasons.The actual amount to be paid by UKIP was determined in March at £175,000.The party's financial position was stabilised and it was able to put forward candidates for the local government elections inMay 2018.

UKIP leadership election 2017

Collins ran to be the leader of UKIP following the resignation of Paul Nuttall (MEP) after the party's poor showing in a series of elections in 2017. Collins said she was standing in order to 'rebuild confidence in UKIP' and cited her two by-election campaigns and her success in the European Elections and her work for Godfrey Bloom as proof of her experience and track record of success for the party.

In an article in theTelegraphshe said she was "offering a real alternative to the other options of EDL-lite or diet Labour".She also stated that she was a progressive libertarian who wanted the party to support low taxes and a small state and welcomed the news that former economics spokesman Patrick O'Flynn said his and Suzanne Evans's economic policies had been rejected in the party.

She had also criticised fellow candidateAnne Marie Watersfor launching her leadership campaign in Rotherham. In a joint statement, UKIP MEP Jane Collins and councillorAllen Cowles,leader of UKIP's elected councillors in Rotherham, said they supported the decision to cancel the planned stadium rally and urged the party's councillors to boycott Waters' campaign launch. Mr Cowles said: "UKIP councillors wish to make it clear that they do not condone in any way the views Ms Waters has previously expressed, or what she stands for."

Collins finished the election in sixth place out of the field of seven candidates, garnering 4.4% of the vote.

Brexit Party

On 15 April 2019, following Gerard Batten's unequivocal defence, on the Andrew Marr show, of a UKIP candidate's tweet about rape as satire, Collins announced that she was leaving the party to join theBrexit Party,saying UKIP's attitude to women was "disgusting" and, having campaigned againstchild sexual exploitation in Rotherham,it was "simply impossible" for her to remain in the party. She addedNigel Farage's new party was the best way of achieving a "real Brexit".

External links

• Official website