Jeffrey Titford 24.10.1933 – 09.09.2024
The following was released by Stuart Gulleford 10th September 2024
Jeffrey Titford, the former Leader of the UK Independence Party and two term MEP for the East of England, has passed away, after suffering from cancer. His family announced his death on 10th September, aged 90. Jeffrey was one of the fathers of Brexit, coming to the fore in national and international politics at a time when leaving the EU was considered unthinkable and long before it became official Conservative Party policy.
A visionary and a democrat, who did not believe that EU membership provided a viable future for Britain as an independent, self-governing nation, Jeffrey Titford was elected to the European Parliament at the 1999 European Parliamentary Elections, aged 63. He was one of three UK Independence Party MEPs elected, which sent shock waves through the political world. He became Leader of the Party in 2000 and served for three years bringing stability and respectability to its campaigns. During this period, he made seventy speeches a year, travelling all over the country. He also served as interim Leader from September to November 2010, following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch, while the election of a new Leader was held.
During his time in the European Parliament, he made dozens of speeches in Plenary session severely criticising the EU and particularly the level of fraud in its finances. He also extensively lobbied the European Commission and the Government in Westminster on behalf of the British fishing and farming industries. He led several delegations of fishermen to see UK Agriculture Ministers in Westminster and also took a delegation to meet the European Commissioner for Fishing in Brussels. He wrote monthly columns for the East Anglian Daily Times, the Hertfordshire Mercury and Farmers Guide and made many appearances on regional television. He also made a guest appearance on Breakfast with Frost.
Jeffrey Titford's political career began in 1970, when he became a Councillor on the Clacton Urban District Council. He ended his association with the Conservative Party in 1992, in protest over Prime Minister John Major's signing of the Maastricht Treaty. He joined Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party and, in a sign of things to come, stood in the General Election of 1997 in Harwich when he was the Party's most successful candidate, securing almost 10 per cent of the vote and, in the process, unseating the sitting Member of Parliament.
Following the death of Sir James Goldsmith, Jeffrey was invited to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP), where he established a branch in Clacton and a regional committee, which led to his successful campaign in the European Elections in 1999. He paved the way for Nigel Farage's subsequent success in Clacton at the 2024 General Election. He was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2004, with a greatly increased share of the vote and UKIP also returned a second MEP. He retired from European Politics in 2009 and was made an Honorary Patron of the Party in 2006 and became President for Life in 2011.
Life before politics
Following National Service in the RAF, Jeffrey joined the family's funeral directing business in 1956, where he had a 35 year career, during which he served for 12 years on the National Association of Funeral Director's (NAFD) National Executive and rose to National President in 1975-76. He was instrumental in developing an official code of practice for the funeral profession, at the request of the Office of Fair Trading. He also successfully campaigned for funeral directors to have the right to sell a package funeral and carried out the first review of the practice manual for funeral directing, which led to the creation of a formal qualification for funeral directors, recognised by the NAFD. He sold the company in February 1989 and retired from the profession.
An enthusiastic Rotarian, Jeffrey served as President of the Clacton and later Frinton Rotary Clubs. He also belonged to the Clacton Operatic and Clacton Dramatic Societies, taking lead roles in both companies. However, his most successful hobby was rally driving. He was a leading light in the Clacton Motor Club in the early seventies for whom he was the regional rally champion for six consecutive years.
Jeffrey Titford was a devoted family man and is survived by his wife Margaret, one son, three daughters, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Obituary by Derek Bennett
In the 1997 general election I stood as a candidate for the first time in my life, I had been drawn to the Referendum Party by Sir James Goldsmith as, by then, I had realised, like many, membership of the European Union was destroying both our national sovereignty and democracy. We no longer elected politicians to govern, we were instead electing administrators who were obeying instructions from the EU as Parliament had signed away its own right to make laws in the 1972 European Communities Act, which made all our UK laws subservient to all European laws.
Despite having a good team of people helping me and working our socks off, all I achieved was the Referendum Party average 3.3% of the vote and a lost deposit. There were mixed results in that election but one stood head and shoulders above all of us who campaigned for the party that year, and that was Jeffrey Titford, he not only saved his deposit, unlike many others, he achieved the highest vote nationally for Referendum Party. That was quite an achievement.
Although we had been members of the same party and I knew of his achievement in Harwich that year, gaining 10% of the vote, I did not get to meet him until the following year at an event being held by the late Denis Delderfield in Birmingham, we were both asked to speak that day. I had to wait until 2000 before I really got to know him well, although by then we had met at a few UKIP events.
At the time of joining UKIP for Jeffrey and many other ex Referendum Party candidates and activists in 1997, the party had turned on its original leader, Alan Sked, who had rejected an offer from Sir James Goldsmith to join forces in the election, many member thought this was a bad decision and a campaign to oust him began. A new leader was elected, however, by the time of the annual conference in the autumn of 1999, the party had turned against him too, there was a call for a vote of no confidence, he held on but by the end of the year things had become so bad an EGM was called to take place in Westminster Central Hall where not only the leader was thrown out, but the whole of the party NEC too.
Following this were first elections to form a new NEC, both Jeffrey and I were elected, it was at our first NEC meeting that he informed me he had voted for me, that was quite a privilege. From then on I began to get to know him well and was delighted when he won the following leadership election to become UKIP's third leader and the first to actually bring some order to the party. He was, without doubt, the right man for the job at just the right time.
Under his steady leadership the party began to succeed and be noticed by the media, he calmed things down and put the party on an even keel, I am convinced that without Jeffrey UKIP would have died in its infancy and, possibly, neither Brexit would have happened and Nigel Farage would not have made the fame he now has. There are many of us who owe a great debt of gratitude to him.
Jeffrey was one of UKIP first three elected MEPs, In his obituary, Stuart Gulliford, who was Jeffrey's press officer during his time in the European Parliament, describes him as "The father of Brexit", I think there could be no truer statement for him. By the time he stood down as the party leader, he handed over the reigns to another good man, Roger Knapman, who building on Jeffrey's success taking the party to new heights and the election of twelve MEPs in the 2004 European elections. Politics often bring out the worst in people, Jeffrey Titford rode above all that and remained a decent, honest, gentleman throughout and will always be remembered for that by many of us. He did a great deal of good not only for UKIP, but for the nation too by setting the party on a path to success that saw those who care for this country being able to vote to leave the EU thanks to UKIP and Jeffrey.
