Douglas Carswell

[[File:Douglas Carswell.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Carswell in 2009.]]
{{Bronze}}{{UKpolitics}}
'''Douglas Carswell''' {{lived|1971}} is a British former Member of Parliament, serving from 2005 until [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017]]<ref>[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11621/douglas_carswell/clacton Douglas Carswell], TheyWorkForYou.com</ref>, and a founding member of the [[Cornerstone Group]] within the [[Conservative Party]], which promotes [[Christian]] values.<ref>[http://www.tfa.net/douglas-carswell-and-daniel-hannan-to-speak-about-electoral-reform-in-the-freedom-zone/ "Douglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan to speak about Electoral Reform in the Freedom Zone | The Freedom Association"]. ''tfa.net''. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.</ref>

A former [[Tory]], Carswell 
claimed asylum in
 defected to the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] in 2014.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28967904 "Tory MP Douglas Carswell defects to UKIP and forces by-election"]. 28 August 2014. Retrieved on 20 September 2016 &ndash; via www.bbc.co.uk.</ref>

Carlswell likes to think he is some sort of intellectual. In fact, one might argue it was why he joined UKIP; he felt he would be bringing some sort of respectability to the party. In reality, all he did was expose his own intellectual failings. It was suspected that Nigel Farage merely tolerated his presence for funding reasons and because he was their only MP.<ref>[https://metro.co.uk/2016/07/02/ukip-could-soon-kick-out-its-only-mp-5980269/ "Ukip could soon kick out its only MP"]. ''metro.co.uk''. 2 July 2016. </ref> Following allegations that he tried to make UKIP less batshit crazy by lessening the focus on immigration and opposing Nigel Farage's 
petulant demands
 subtle hints to be knighted, Carswell left UKIP in March 2017 and sat as an independent MP until the general election of June that year (which he did not stand in<ref>{{cite news |last1=Elgot |first1=Jessica |last2=Booth |first2=Robert |last3=Walker |first3=Peter |url=[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/20/former-ukip-mp-douglas-carswell-to-step-down-in-clacton Former Ukip MP Douglas Carswell to step down in Clacton] |work=The Guardian |date=20 April 2017 |accessdate=20 April 2017}}</ref>). Additionally, there was the threat of a possible by-election usurpation by moneybags {{wpl|Arron Banks}} (who effectively funded UKIP under Farage's ''Führerschaft'').<ref>Geddes, Duncan (25 March 2017). [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/carswell-quits-ukip-pnj6mgtlc "Carswell quits Ukip"]. ''The Times''. (subscription needed)</ref><ref>Khomami, Nadia (25 March 2017). [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/mar/25/ukips-only-mp-douglas-carswell-quits-party "Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell quits party"] &ndash; via www.theguardian.com.</ref>

in 2021, after Brexit was done, he relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, after being appointed president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.<ref>[https://www.djournal.com/mbj/douglas-carswell-appointed-mcpp-president-ceo/article_d0fe7564-4f6f-11eb-973f-ff8b0baa1384.html "Douglas Carswell appointed MCPP President & CEO"]</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/brexit-europe-global-trade-jackson-united-kingdom-07d17bf6d62f60f739bacdc2fdfe0547 "Brexit leader to head Mississippi public policy center".]</ref><ref>[https://www.wlbt.com/2021/01/05/brexit-leader-head-mississippi-center-public-policy/ "Brexit leader to head Mississippi Center for Public Policy"]</ref> Since then, he has claimed that Mississippi, despite being the poorest state, actually has a higher standard of living than Britain, due to its per capita GDP being narrowly higher than that of the UK,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230818121333/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/britain-mississippi-economy-comparison/675039/ Is Mississippi Really as Poor as Britain?]</ref> and that a teacher or a registered nurse, who would make £25,000-30,000 per year in the UK outside of London, would have a starting salary of about £41,000 per year in Mississippi; or a superintendent of a typical school district in Mississippi would make around £130,000 per year, equivalent to a Cabinet minister in the UK; or that a landscape gardener in Mississippi would make more than a hedge fund manager in West London.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230722194408/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/22/britain-is-now-a-poor-nation-this-is-our-number-one-issue/ Britain is now a poor nation. This is the number one issue we face – yet our leaders ignore it]</ref>

==Views on science==
A former member of Friends of the Earth, Carswell is now a [[climate change denier]], citing "objective science and the flow of knowledge about it on the internet" for his change of mind.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2009/nov/30/douglas-carswell-climate-change "Douglas Carswell: How the facts on global warming have changed"]. 30 November 2009. Retrieved on 20 September 2016 &ndash; via The Guardian.</ref>

In a move which may make [[RationalWiki]] readers think of the [[Lenski affair]], in 2016 Carswell decided to debate with a science professor at Suffolk University, claiming that the [[Sun]], not the [[Moon]], primarily causes tides.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/douglas-carswell-tides-ukip-experts-science-mp-a7318461.html "Experts are wrong about the moon causing ocean tides, Ukip MP Douglas Carswell insists"]. ''independent.co.uk''. 20 September 2016. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.</ref> [[Bill O'Reilly|Tide goes in, tide goes out. ''You'' can't explain it!]]

==Friction with Farage==
{{cquote|"Genuinely impressed that UKIP, a party with only one MP, has already managed a backbench rebellion. Respect."<ref>Sutcliffe, Tom (12 May 2015). [https://twitter.com/tds153/status/598170567968161792 "Genuinely impressed that UKIP, a party with only one MP, has already managed a backbench rebellion. Respect."]. ''twitter.com''. </ref>}}
In 2015, when he was [[2015_United_Kingdom_general_election|re-elected MP for Clacton]] as a UKIP candidate, he somehow managed to remain the party's sole MP yet also appeared to be at odds with [[Nigel Farage]], the former leader of the party, and prior to the UK's vote to leave the [[European Union]], high-profile [[Brexit]]eers such as John Redwood accused Carswell of undermining the Brexit cause.<ref>[http://www.thecommentator.com/article/5286/how_will_the_carswell_farage_relationship_hold_up "How will the Carswell/|Farage relationship hold up? - The Commentator"]. ''thecommentator.com''. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.</ref>

One of the first signs of this friction was when Carswell [[Stopped clock|refused to back Farage's televised comments]] regarding [[HIV/AIDS]]. Farage had suggested that foreigners with HIV/AIDS should not be treated on the [[NHS]], saying that the comments and "tone [UKIP] deployed" during the 2015 general election was "mean-spirited" and "wrong".<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11641765/Douglas-Carswell-says-Nigel-Farage-was-mean-spirited-and-wrong-about-HIV.html "Douglas Carswell says Nigel Farage was 'mean-spirited and wrong' about HIV"]. ''telegraph.co.uk''. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.</ref> Douglas Carswell's father, Wilson, was a respected physician and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons who diagnosed the first confirmed cases of HIV/AIDS in [[Uganda]].<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/nigel-farage/11514147/Ukip-MP-refuses-to-endorse-Nigel-Farage-Aids-comment.html "Ukip MP refuses to endorse Nigel Farage Aids comment"]. ''telegraph.co.uk''. Retrieved on 20 September 2016.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

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[[Category:Brexit]]
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[[Category:British right wing]]
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[[Category:Conservative deceit]]
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[[Category:Former Members of Parliament (UK)]]
[[Category:Nationalism in the UK]]

Categories: Brexit, British people, British right wing, Business, Conservative deceit, Living people, Former Members of Parliament (UK), Nationalism in the UK