Neil Hamilton MS

Neil Hamilton was a Member of the National Assembly for Wales between May 2016 and April 2021. This was his biography at the time he left.

Key interests and achievements

Neil Hamilton’s key political interests are the economy, low taxes, entrepreneurship and, above all, the sovereignty of Parliament and Britain’s national independence. Opposition to the EU is the thread running through his whole political life. He joined the Anti-Common Market League in 1967 whilst a pupil at the Amman Valley Grammar School. 

He is against the Welfare State, believing people should decide for themselves how to live, so long as they cause no significant harm to others.

Personal history

Born in 1949, he grew up in a mining family in the South Wales Valleys.  Both his grandfathers were coal miners and his father rose to be NCB Chief Engineer for Wales.  He was educated at Amman Valley Grammar School, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (BScEcon 1970, MScEcon 1973) and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, (LL.M 1977).

Professional background

He was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1979 and specialised in tax, intellectual property, company law, trusts etc. Before becoming an MP he was European and Parliamentary Affairs Director of the Institute of Directors.

Political history

He fought, as a Conservative, Abertillery in February 1974, Bradford North in 1979 and was elected Conservative MP for Tatton in 1983.  He was a member of the Treasury Select Committee, a Government Whip, Corporate Affairs Minister at the Department of Trade & Industry, responsible for the City, Financial Services Industry, Insurance, Accountancy, Corporate & Commercial Law, Financial Regulation, Fraud & Insider Dealing, Monopolies & Mergers, European Trade Policy etc. He spearheaded the Government's Deregulation Initiative and was a Member of EU Council of Ministers, responsible for all aspects of trade between Britain and Europe with special responsibility for Eastern Europe, He was the UK's delegate to the G7 and UN Conferences on Reconstruction of Eastern Europe.

He joined the Anti-Common-Market League in 1967, UKIP in 2002 and was a member of its National Executive Committee from 2011-2016. He was UKIP Deputy Chairman 2013-2016 and Campaign Director in the European Parliament elections 2014.

Register of Interests

Register of Interests – Fifth Senedd (PDF, 3.25MB)