William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth

The Right Honourable The Earl of Dartmouth FCA MEP
Deputy Chair of the UK Independence Party
In office 24 February 2016 – 22 January 2018 Served alongside Diane James (2016) Suzanne Evans (2016–2017)
Leader	Nigel Farage Diane James Paul Nuttall Steve Crowther[1] (acting) Henry Bolton
Preceded by	Neil Hamilton
Succeeded by	Margot Parker
UKIP Spokesperson for International Trade
In office 24 February 2016 – 22 January 2018
Preceded by	Roger Knapman
Succeeded by	Vacant
Member of Parliament for South West England & Gibraltar
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 July 2009
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 14 December 1997 – 11 November 1999 Hereditary peerage
Preceded by	Gerald Legge
Succeeded by	House of Lords Act 1999
Personal details
Born	(1949-09-23) 23 September 1949 Westminster, London, England
Political party	UK Independence Party (2007–2018)
Other political affiliations	Conservative (before 2007)
Spouse(s)	Fiona Campbell (m. 2009)
Children	1
Mother	Raine McCorquodale
Father	Gerald Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth
Education	Eton College
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford Harvard Business School
Website	williamdartmouth.com

William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth, FCA (born 23 September 1949), styled Viscount Lewisham from 1962 to 1997, is a British politician and hereditary peer, usually known as William Dartmouth.

Dartmouth sits in the European Parliament as MEP for South West England, representing the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and served as one of two national Deputy Chairmen from 2016 to 2018.^[2]

Legge arms

Early life and education

Dartmouth is the eldest son of the 9th Earl of Dartmouth and Raine McCorquodale, the daughter of romantic novelist Dame Barbara Cartland. Thus, he became a stepbrother of Diana, Princess of Wales, upon his mother's second marriage to the 8th Earl Spencer.

Dartmouth was educated at Eton College before going to Christ Church, Oxford (MA), where he was elected an officer of the Oxford University Conservative Association and later of the Oxford Union Society.^[3] He studied further at Harvard Business School, graduating as MBA.

Life and career

Lord Dartmouth worked as a chartered accountant (FCA 1975), also the occupation of his father Gerald Legge, 9th Earl of Dartmouth, whose titles he inherited in 1997. As Earl of Dartmouth, he sat as Conservative peer in the House of Lords until 1999, when the Labour government of Tony Blair removed all but 92 hereditary peers from Parliament. In January 2007, Dartmouth announced he was leaving the Conservative Party in favour of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), citing concerns about the policies of David Cameron (then Leader of HM Opposition).^[4]

Dartmouth was elected as the second UKIP MEP for the South West England region in the European Parliament election of 2009 and re-elected in 2014, as the first UKIP MEP on the regional list. In the European Parliament he sits with the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group and on the Committee on International Trade. He has been the UKIP National Spokesman on Trade since 2010 and in February 2016 became one of the party's two national Deputy Chairmen.^[2] He is an author writing many publications for UKIP and the EFDD. He stood down as trade and industry spokesman on 22 January 2018 following UKIP's National Executive Committee vote of no confidence in leader Henry Bolton on the previous day.^[5]

In September 2018, Dartmouth resigned from the UK Independence Party, citing concerns about new Leader Gerard Batten. In particular, Batten’s offensive homophobic and anti-Islamic rhetoric. Dartmouth condemned Batten's direction of the party to the far right. Dartmouth denounced Batten's approval of and support for extreme right-wing groups and “outlandish individuals”.^[6]

Dartmouth confirmed he would not be joining another political party. He now serves as an Independent MEP representing the South West of England and Gibraltar in the European Parliament; and will do so for the remainder of the elective term.^[7]

Family and personal life

In June 2009, Dartmouth married Melbourne-born former model Fiona Campbell, now styled Lady Dartmouth,^[8] whose first husband, Matt Handbury, is a nephew of Rupert Murdoch.^[9] They subsequently divorced.

Dartmouth has a son, Gerald Glen Kavanagh-Legge (b. 2005), from his previous relationship with the BAFTA award-winning television producer Claire Kavanagh.^[10] However, his son, being born out of wedlock, is not entitled to inherit the earldom, which passes only through legitimate male offspring, nor can he use the customary courtesy title of Viscount Lewisham.

The current heir presumptive to the earldom of Dartmouth, and other titles, is the present Earl's younger brother, the author the Hon. Rupert Legge.^[11]

Titles and styles

• William Legge Esq (1949–1958)
• The Hon. William Legge (1958–1962)
• Viscount Lewisham (1962–1997)
• The Earl of Dartmouth (1997–2009)
• The Earl of Dartmouth, MEP (since 2009)

Ancestry

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Dartmouth
• pedigree of William Legge, 10th Earl of Dartmouth
• Debrett's People of Today
• European Parliament profile
• Lord Dartmouth's website
• http://www.ukipmeps.org/