UKIP front bench role for North East MEP

The Hartlepool-based MEP has been appointed as UKIP’s front bench spokesman on Constitutional Affairs.

"UKIP has achieved our goal of winning the Brexit referendum and power must now be returned from Brussels to Westminster. But that's only half of the job done: we now need to take that same power and put it right back in the hands of the great British people where it belongs," he said.

"It means ensuring that our MPs take responsibility for their own actions, so that corrupt politicians can be recalled and drummed out of office. It means letting the public call binding referendums on issues that matter to them.

"It means a fairer electoral system, it means reform of the House of Lords, and it means ensuring a fair deal for the English, the Welsh, the Scottish and the Northern Irish so that no part of our United Kingdom can feel disadvantaged or left out.

"Most importantly of all, it means fiercely protecting our sovereignty, so that never again can a Parliament sign us up to an undemocratic supranational organisation like the European Union. When we, the people, invest power in a Parliament at a General Election we expect it to be returned to us, intact, at the following election.

"UKIP is, and must always be, the Party that keeps the flame of democracy alive. If we want to increase turnout at elections, we have to begin by putting more power into the hands of the people. Our opponents will call it populism; we call it democracy."

New UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall MEP said: "Jonathan is an exceptional thinker, with an analytical brain that leaves most people standing.

"He is perfect for the hugely complex area of constitutional affairs."