Profile: Gerard Batten

Interview: Gerard Batten

Gerard Batten has represented London in the European Parliament since June 2004 for the UK Independence Party, and is UKIP's candidate to be the city's mayor.

Born in Harold Hill in Essex on 27 March 1954, he worked for BT as a salesman for 28 years before being elected as an MEP.

He was a founder member of UKIP in 1993 and was the first party secretary, spending three years in the post. He has also been a member of the party's National Executive Committee.

Mr Batten is UKIP's spokesman on security and defence issues and is a member of the European Parliament's security and defence committee.

As an MEP, he is best known for the publication of an annual study entitled How Much Does the European Parliament Cost Britain?

His figures claim that membership of the European Union cost Britain in the region of £50 billion per year and are usually widely reported in the national media.

'Common sense'

Mr Batten also earned headlines following the death of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in London in 2006.

He had met the Russian several times and said that Mr Litvinenko had been warned that his life was in danger shortly before he fell ill.

At the time, Mr Batten said he was "shocked" and "very saddened" about the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Litvinenko, whom he described as "a very likeable man".

When he launched his campaign to be London's mayor, Mr Batten said that among his priorities as mayor would be to combat crime, which he considered to be "out of control".

And he said "justice and common sense" would be his "watchwords" between now and May.