James Wells (British politician)

James Freeman Wells is a British politician. He was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Wales constituency in the 2019 election serving until January 2020. He was second on his party's list after Nathan Gill (former UKIP MEP).[1]

James Wells
Member of the European Parliament
for Wales
In office
2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byKay Swinburne
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
NationalityBritish
Political partyIndependent (since 2021)
Other political
affiliations		Reform UK (2019–2021)
Alma materUniversity of Liverpool
OccupationPolitician

Early life and education

Wells left formal education at the age of 16. He returned to full-time education twelve years later and studied psychology at the University of Liverpool and later a Masters in the same subject at Cranfield University.[2]

Career

Prior to joining politics, he was head of the UK trade team at the Office for National Statistics. Wells quit the role and his membership to the Conservative Party in order to run as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the Wales constituency in the 2019 European Parliament election.[3] He had only joined the Conservatives in 2018 with the purpose of being able to vote if a leadership election was called.[2] In the election, Wells became an MEP alongside fellow Brexit Party candidate Nathan Gill.[4]

In the European Parliament, Wells was a member of the Committee on International Trade and part of the delegation for relations with the countries of the Andean community.[5]

Wells stood for the Brexit Party in Islwyn in the 2019 general election; he received 14% of the vote.[6] He also stood for the successor party Reform UK in Islwyn and South Wales East in the 2021 Senedd election.[7]

Personal life

Wells is married and has two children and lives in Wales. He reports that he is dyslexic.[2]

References
  1. Mosalski, Ruth (23 May 2019). "European elections 2019: These are all the candidates in Wales". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  2. Wells, James (20 May 2019). "I'm standing to be an MEP because I'm sick of politicians frustrating the Brexit process". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  3. Halliday, Josh (25 April 2019). "Brexit party: opera singer and ex-Loaded editor on candidate list". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  4. "EU elections 2019: Who are Wales' newly-elected MEPs?". BBC News. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  5. "James Wells". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  6. "Islwyn". Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  7. Mosalski, Ruth (28 March 2021). "The candidates standing in the Senedd election in Islwyn". WalesOnline. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
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