Freddy Vachha


Freddy Vachha is a British businessman and politician who has served as leader of the UK Independence Party since June 2020.

Early life

Freddy Vachha was born in Bombay, India, in December 1957. Between 1977 and 1980, he worked as a private tutor in mathematics and physics in India. Between 1980 and 1981, he studied accounting and obtained a Diploma in Accountancy. In 1981, he worked at the accounting firm Ernst & Whinney as a trainee, where he remained until 1984. Between 1984 and 1995, he ran his own computer software company Digital Precision, developing software for the Sinclair QL.
Vachha has Indian Parsi heritage.

Political career

Vachha was the UKIP candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green in the 2015 general election, standing against Iain Duncan Smith who was serving as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the time. During a hustings event, he said that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was caused by mass immigration.
Vachha was a candidate for the 2016 London Assembly election in the North East constituency but was not elected. He stood as a candidate in Old Bexley and Sidcup in the 2017 general election, coming fourth. He competed for one of London's seats in the 2019 European Parliament election but was not elected. In the same year, he unsuccessfully ran for UKIP leader in that year's leadership election but came second to Richard Braine. He co-ordinated the party's national campaign for the 2019 general election.
He became leader of UKIP in June 2020, saying that the party "went astray quite a few years ago" and that under his leadership it would "return to our libertarian freedom-loving principles".