John Upex - UKIP

John Randall Upex was born and raised in Leeds. He has had a long career in engineering and owns and runs his own manufacturing company. He is 63, married with two grown up children. He has lived in Harrogate since 1984.

John Upex has stood in a number of elections in recent years. In the 2005 General Election he stood in the Wakefield seat for UKIP, finishing in 6th place with 1.1% of the vote. In 2008 he stood as an independent in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election gaining 0.2% of the vote. Also in 2008 John Upex stood in the Nidd Valley Ward of the Harrogate Borough Council Elections where he got 2.6% of the vote.

As one would expect John Upex's main concern is with Europe. In election literature attributed to him during the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election he likens the EU to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and claimed that if he was elected he would overthrow the government and lead a peasants revolt in order to remove Britain from the European Union.