Mark Croucher

Croucher was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, US to British parents. His father, Peter John Croucher was an engineer, and his mother Mary Florence (née Dunn) was a legal secretary. His parents re-emigrated back to the United Kingdom in 1971, when Croucher was five years old. He has a younger brother, Paul Stephen Croucher (b. 1970). He was educated at St Paulinus Church of England Primary School, Crayford, Kent, and then at the City of London School, London which he attended on a scholarship as a chorister at the Temple Church under choirmaster Sir George Thalben-Ball, appearing on two records made by the choir during his time there. He had previously sung in the St Paulinus Church choir, Crayford, and the Westminster Abbey Special Choir.

On leaving school at the age of 16, he attended Erith College (now Bexley College) for a year before enlisting in the United States Air Force at the age of 17, where he served for three years as a radio operator before taking an early discharge and returning to the UK to attend Merchant Navy College (formerly the Thames Nautical Training College), Greenhithe, Kent, qualifying as a Radio Officer in 1989. During this period, he first became involved in politics, leading the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to prevent the closure of the college in 1989.

Working mainly for Dutch shipping companies,[1] he volunteered for service in the First Gulf War and served on an ammunition transport as a Chief Radio Officer. During this period, he continued his studies using distance learning, gaining a degree in electronics engineering, and also worked as a freelance journalist.

In 2001, he was employed by UKIP as its sole press officer and de facto Director of Communications, with him adopting the formal title in 2002 under new leader Roger Knapman as the party expanded. At the 2001 general election he contested the Dartford parliamentary constituency for UKIP, coming fourth with 989 votes.[2]

In 2003, Croucher led the party's decision to contest local elections, writing its first local election manifesto – which still forms the backbone of the current manifesto. He himself stood in the staunchly Labour Joyce Green ward for Dartford Borough Council in 2003, polling 31% of the vote in the multiseat ward.

In 2004, he was in charge of media strategy for the party's 2004 European election[3] campaign which saw the party break through from its existing three MEP seats to 12, gaining 16.8% of the national vote and beating the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. By focussing on large set-piece events with a central theme, and by carefully deploying high-profile candidates (including Robert Kilroy-Silk) and supporters, he generated significant media interest in the campaign,[4] which represented a break from previous UKIP efforts. Throughout this period, he worked closely with Clive Page (at that time a consultant, and later Deputy Director of Communications), with external advice from PR guru Max Clifford,[5] who had declared his support for UKIP early in the campaign. Page was a former Head of News for ITV Tyne Tees television. Croucher also worked closely with UKIP Head of Strategy Dick Morris, who joined the campaign team in late 2003.[6]

Following the election, he was appointed editor of UKIPs internal magazine, Independence News, updating the style and content of the magazine as its circulation reached a peak of 29,000. He remained editor until 2007.

Croucher stood down as director of communications in 2007, but returned in 2009 as a consultant for the European election campaign of that year. After UKIP came second, he was appointed as Head of Media for UKIP's new grouping in the European Parliament,[7] the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group, in which position he continued until 2011. Since then, he has worked as a consultant for several of the partys MEPs.

• Gardner, Dr Peter (2006): Hard Pounding: the story of the UK Independence Party, June Press