Editing Roger Helmer (section)

===UKIP===
On 12 October 2011, Helmer announced that he would resign from the European Parliament at the end of the year, citing "increasing disillusion with the attitudes of the Conservative Party" as the main reason, although also stating that his "twelve-and-a-half years banging my head against the same brick wall in Brussels is perhaps long enough".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2011/10/roger-helmer-mep-to-resign-from-the-european-parliament.html |title=Roger Helmer MEP to resign from the European Parliament |last=Barrett |first=Matthew |publisher=ConservativeHome |date=12 October 2011}}</ref>

Helmer expected to be replaced by [[Rupert Matthews (politician)|Rupert Matthews]] who was next on the Conservative [[party list]] in the [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2009 European Parliament election]]. However the party was reported to be looking into [[Golliwogg|golliwog dolls]] featuring on the front cover of a book published by a company of which Matthews is director and shareholder<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16373806 "Conservative MEP Roger Helmer delays resignation"] BBC 31 December 2011</ref> and would not confirm that Matthews would succeed him.

Helmer delayed standing down, before it was announced on 2 March 2012 that he had defected from the Conservatives to the UK Independence Party.<ref name="British Broadcasting Corporation"/> He faced accusations of hypocrisy as he had demanded in November 2000, that MEP [[Bill Newton Dunn]] immediately resign as a result of his move from Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats.<ref>[http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/MEP-hypocrite-party-shift/story-15431082-detail/story.html "MEP 'hypocrite' over party shift" ''Leicester Mercury'' 8 March 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824015508/http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/MEP-hypocrite-party-shift/story-15431082-detail/story.html |date=24 August 2013 }}</ref>

On 6 April 2014, Helmer visited the congress of [[Conservative People's Party of Estonia]] in [[Tallinn]] and gave a speech in support of Euroscepticism in Estonia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ekre.ee/konservatiivne-rahvaerakond-peab-puhapaeval-tallinnas-kongressi/|title=Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond peab pühapäeval Tallinnas kongressi – EKRE – Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond|website=ekre.ee}}</ref>

On 6 May 2014, it was announced on the official UKIP website that Helmer would contest the [[2014 Newark by-election|Newark by-election]], following the resignation of former Conservative MP [[Patrick Mercer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukip.org/ukip_announces_newark_parliamentary_by_election_candidate|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140506151509/http://www.ukip.org/ukip_announces_newark_parliamentary_by_election_candidate|archive-date=6 May 2014|title=UKIP announces Newark parliamentary by-election candidate - UKIP }}</ref> He came second with 25%, behind the Conservative [[Robert Jenrick]] who received 45% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news|title=Conservatives see off UKIP challenge to win Newark by-election |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27711254|access-date=6 June 2014|work=[[BBC News]]|date=6 June 2014}}</ref>

On 25 May 2014, he was re-elected for UKIP as the first on their list for the East Midlands seat in the 2014 European Elections.

On 13 June 2017, Helmer announced he would be resigning from the European Parliament, citing age and health status as reasons, but amid allegations of misuse of public funds.<ref name="Rankin">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/13/ukip-mep-resigns-amid-investigation-into-alleged-misuse-of-funds|title=Ukip MEP resigns amid investigation into alleged misuse of funds|first=Jennifer|last=Rankin|date=13 June 2017|website=The Guardian}}</ref> He was succeeded by [[Jonathan Bullock]].<ref>[https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/837324/Brexit-news-Ukip-MEP-Jonathan-Bullock-Britain-leave-EU-May-Hammond Gutteridge, Nick. '"The fight for Brexit isn't over" Ukip's newest MEP vows to stop backsliding on leaving EU' ''Sunday Express'' website; August 5, 2017]</ref>