Giles Chichester

Who is Giles Chichester?

Giles Chichester is a British Conservative Party politician, and a Member of the European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar. He was elected as a temporary Vice-President of the European Parliament on 6 July 2011 to replace Silvana Koch-Mehrin who had resigned over plagiarism allegations.

Chichester was born in London. Since 1969 worked in family business Francis Chichester Ltd, founded by his father Sir Francis Chichester KBE, and still lives in the family home at 9 St James's Place, London SW1.

He was MEP for Devon and East Plymouth from 1994 to 1999 and has represented South West England in the European Parliament since 1999. On 23 July 2004 he was elected chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy.

He is a former Chairman of the Carlton Club Political Committee and is chairman of his family business publishing maps.

Chichester describes himself as a "climate change sceptic".