Julia Reid (née Rudman; born 16 July 1952) is a British politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West England region.

Quick Facts UKIP Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, Leader ...

Julia Reid
UKIP Spokesperson for Health and Social Care
In office 11 June 2017 – 22 January 2018
Leader	Steve Crowther (Acting) Henry Bolton
Preceded by	Suzanne Evans
Succeeded by	Vacant
UKIP Spokesperson for the Environment
In office 29 November 2016 – 22 January 2017
Leader	Paul Nuttall Steve Crowther[1] (Acting) Henry Bolton
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Stuart Agnew
UKIP Spokesperson for Science
In office 24 July 2014 – 29 November 2016
Leader	Nigel Farage Diane James Nigel Farage (Acting)
Member of the European Parliament for South West England
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019[2][3]
Preceded by	Trevor Colman
Succeeded by	Ann Widdecombe
Personal details
Born	Julia Rudman (1952-07-16) 16 July 1952 (age 71) Brockley, Lewisham, London, England, UK
Political party	Reform UK (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	SDP (1981–1988) 'Continuing' SDP (1988–1990) UKIP (1993–2018) Independent (2018–2019)
Spouse	Ken Reid (m. 1987)
Alma mater	University of Bath
Website	juliareid.co.uk

Close

She was educated at Bentley Grammar School, Calne, and the University of Bath, where she graduated with a degree in biochemistry, later obtaining a PhD in pharmacology. She worked as a diabetes laboratory researcher at Bath's Royal United Hospital until being made redundant in 2009.

Reid joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) during its inaugural year, 1981, and stayed with the party until its merger with the Liberals in 1988. Reid opposed the pro-EEC stance of the new Liberal Democrats and instead joined the continuing SDP, which turned out to be short-lived.

In 1993, Reid joined the newly founded UK Independence Party (UKIP). She was fourth on the South West region party list for the 2009 European election. In 2010, she contested the new seat of Chippenham in the general election, finishing fourth with 1,783 votes (3.4%). In 2011, she became a research assistant for UKIP MEP Trevor Colman. She was elected in 2014 for UKIP in the South West England region of the European Parliament.^[4] She contested Chippenham again in 2015, coming third.^[5]

Reid left UKIP in December 2018 in protest at the party's move to the right and, as the "final straw", the appointment of Tommy Robinson as an advisor.^[6] She joined the new Brexit Party in February 2019.

In local government, Reid was elected to Calne town council in 2013.^{[citation needed]}