Catherine Blaiklock
Catherine Blaiklock | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age England |
| Occupation(s) | Financial trader, hotel manager, politician |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Known for | Founder and former leader of the Brexit Party |
Catherine Anne Blaiklock (born April 1963) is an English nationalist figure, former financial trader, and hotel manager who established and led the Brexit Party between January and March 2019. The party was formed to promote a no-deal Brexit strategy. She stepped down following revelations of her previous anti-Islamic and racist remarks made online. Blaiklock previously served as the Economics Spokesperson for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) before departing from the party in late 2018. Before entering politics, she built a career trading currencies and derivatives. Additionally, she co-founded a healthcare charity in Nepal alongside her former husband, Everest Sherpa Gyaljen Sherpa.
Early life
Daughter of the polar explorer Ken Blaiklock, she moved with her family to Norfolk during infancy. Blaiklock grew up there until attending university and later characterized Norfolk as "intellectually devoid." During her teenage years, she spent four years in care facilities due to struggles with bulimia and behavioral difficulties.
In 1981, Blaiklock earned a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, joining shortly after it began admitting women. She pursued studies in geography and climatology before being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship for further education in India.
Professional career
Blaiklock’s professional background includes working as a currency and derivatives trader for firms such as Merrill Lynch across financial centers including New York, Tokyo, and Singapore. Returning to Asia later, she co-established the Nepal-based healthcare charity Nepal in Need with her then-husband Gyaljen Sherpa. As of 2015, she continued to actively support and fundraise for the organization. After moving back to Norfolk in 1999, Blaiklock managed a guesthouse along with other small enterprises within the hospitality industry.
UKIP (2014–2018)
Having never voted before, Blaiklock joined UKIP in 2014 and became politically engaged following the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. She unsuccessfully contested the Great Yarmouth seat as UKIP’s candidate during the 2017 general election. During this campaign, she emphasized her marriage to a British Jamaican man to counter accusations of racism directed at UKIP. In September 2018, Blaiklock was appointed UKIP’s Economic Spokesperson, served as Eastern Regional Chair, and contributed opinion pieces to The Daily Telegraph. She left UKIP later that year after Gerard Batten appointed Tommy Robinson as his personal adviser.
Brexit Party (January–July 2019)
On 20 January 2019, Blaiklock founded the Brexit Party, a political group advocating for Brexit without a deal, using her Norfolk guesthouse as its registered office. She approached former UKIP leader Nigel Farage to take leadership of the party; on 8 February 2019, Farage confirmed he would stand as a Brexit Party candidate in forthcoming European Parliament elections. Blaiklock strongly supported a no-deal Brexit and dismissed concerns about potential economic fallout from an abrupt departure.
Blaiklock resigned from the party leadership on 20 March after The Guardian published recovered deleted tweets containing anti-Islamic content from before her tenure, uncovered by the advocacy group Hope not Hate. The tweets included provocative statements targeting Islam and various ethnic communities. Farage publicly denounced her remarks as "horrible and intolerant." Despite stepping down as leader, Blaiklock remained listed as a Director of the Brexit Party as of May 2019.
Conservative Party Membership Attempt (August 2019)
On 23 July, coinciding with Boris Johnson's triumph in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Blaiklock submitted an application to join the Conservative Party and was assigned a membership number by 6 August. Nevertheless, soon after she made her application public, the Conservative Party declined her membership, citing the need for final authorization. Blaiklock remarked, "Central office cancelled it despite the local branch being familiar with me."
English Democrats Involvement (2021–present)
Blaiklock revealed her affiliation with the English Democrats on 3 July 2021 through an article in The Salisbury Review. She delivered a speech at their conference during the autumn of that year and was selected in early January 2022 as their candidate for the 2022 Southend West by-election, following the tragic killing of Sir David Amess, the former MP for Southend West. Major political parties including Labour, Liberal Democrats, and Greens chose not to participate in the by-election held on 3 February out of respect; Blaiklock secured fourth place with 320 votes, representing 2.15%.
In the 2024 general election, she contested the seat of Great Yarmouth, attaining 171 votes (0.4%). The constituency was won by Rupert Lowe of Reform UK, previously associated with the Brexit Party; Lowe has since been suspended and currently serves as an independent.
Additionally, she stood as a candidate for the English Democrats in the 2025 Runcorn and Helsby by-election, finishing 12th with 95 votes and forfeiting her deposit.
Political Positions
Writing for The Conservative Woman, Blaiklock has championed capital punishment for drug traffickers and argued that reliance on food banks contributes to obesity among economically disadvantaged families, advocating instead for potatoes as a more affordable and healthier dietary option. She has also expressed pronounced anti-Islam views across several conservative outlets.
In January 2019, The Guardian reported that Blaiklock had authored blogs and tweets—since removed—in which she attributed crime rates and fatherlessness among black men to elevated testosterone levels and posited biological explanations for lower academic performance.
Personal Background
Blaiklock's first marriage was to Nepali Gyaljen Sherpa, whom she met in 1997 at Everest base camp; they have two children together. Her second spouse is Christopher Kirkpatrick, who is British Jamaican.
As of February 2019, Blaiklock operated The Annapurna Guest House from her residence in Lingwood, Norfolk, with day-to-day management handled by her husband. The BBC reported that month that its Tripadvisor page had been subjected to politically motivated harassment and "malicious trolling," leading Tripadvisor to suspend reviews temporarily. Notably, this guest house served as the official registered address for the Brexit Party upon its registration on 5 February 2019.
See also
External links
- Official website (archived)