Mark Reckless

Mark Reckless
Reckless in 2016
Leader of the Brexit Party in Wales
In office 15 May 2019 – 19 October 2020
Leader	Nigel Farage
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Nathan Gill (Reform UK)
Member of the Senedd for South Wales East
In office 5 May 2016 – 29 April 2021
Preceded by	William Graham
Succeeded by	Natasha Asghar
UKIP Spokesperson for Economics
In office 18 August 2015 – 6 April 2017
Leader	Nigel Farage Diane James Paul Nuttall
Preceded by	Patrick O'Flynn
Succeeded by	Patrick O'Flynn
Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood
In office 20 November 2014 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	himself
Succeeded by	Kelly Tolhurst
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 September 2014
Preceded by	Bob Marshall-Andrews (Medway)
Succeeded by	himself
Personal details
Born	Mark John Reckless (1970-12-06) 6 December 1970 (age 53) London, England
Political party	Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party (2020–present)
Other political affiliations	Brexit Party (2019–2020) Independent (member of the Conservative Group in the Senedd) (2017–2019) UK Independence Party (2014–2017) Conservative (2002–2014)
Spouse	Catriona Brown
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford The University of Law Columbia Business School
Website	Official website

Mark John Reckless (born 6 December 1970) is a British lawyer and former politician who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales East from 2016 until 2021, having previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood from 2010 to 2015. Initially a member of the Conservative Party, he crossed the floor to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in September 2014. He has since changed parties a further three times.

While a member of the House of Commons, Reckless was noted for his rebelliousness; he cast 56 votes against the whip between 2010 and 2014, making him the 13th most rebellious Conservative Party MP in the period. He led a rebellion of 53 Conservative MPs on the EU budget, which inflicted the first House of Commons defeat on the coalition government. From November 2010, he served as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee. After crossing the floor, he won re-election as a UKIP MP in a by-election held in November 2014 but lost his seat to the Conservatives at the 2015 general election.

A Eurosceptic, Reckless was elected to the National Assembly for Wales, later known as the Senedd, in 2016. He campaigned to leave the European Union in the 2016 EU membership referendum. He subsequently left UKIP to join the Conservative group in the National Assembly before joining the Brexit Party in 2019 when he was appointed its leader in the National Assembly by Nigel Farage.^[1] On 19 October 2020, Reckless joined the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party; the party lost both of its seats in the 2021 Senedd election.^[2]