An ex-Residents’ Association councillor for Epsom and Ewell has been announced as UKIP’s candidate for the area in next year’s General Election.

Robert Leach, 64, served as a RA councillor for Auriol ward on Epsom Council for 12 years from 1999 to 2011.  For 14 months during this period, he was chairman of the ruling RA group of councillors.

After standing down, Mr Leach said he was so concerned by the state of the country, that he joined UKIP in November 2011 and was subsequently asked to be a candidate for the party.

In 2012, he stood as the UKIP candidate for the Tattenham, Walton and Kingswood division in the Surrey County Council (SCC) election, which saw him secure 32 per cent of the vote.

He said: "I have lived in this borough for more than 50 years. 

"It is only under this Coalition Government that I have seen pawnbrokers on the high street and the churches organising a food bank for residents who cannot feed themselves.

"I still support the RA, I haven’t fallen out with them. 

"I stood down as councillor as I thought 12 years was enough time to serve and I wanted to move on. 

"I didn’t leave the RA to join UKIP.

"But I was concerned about gay marriage - not because I have a problem with gay people but the parties introduced it when no one had been asking for it and it wasn’t in their manifestos. 

"Making such a change to an institution such as marriage with no constitutional mandate, I wasn’t happy about that.

"It is the same with the Scottish referendum - fewer than six per cent of the country will have any say in the matter.

"I had been concerned about the way the EU is going for a long time.  It’s just become a federal bureaucracy.

"So I started looking into UKIP to see whether they were just a bunch of fruit-cakes and closet racists and thought they had common-sense policies. 

"I joined with no intention of being a candidate and then I was asked to be one."

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A chartered account who lectures on tax, he has published 40 books and is also a musician who plays the organ at church and piano in a dance band, Forty-Second Street.

The married father-of-three, whose late father-in-law was a German Jew, has lived in Epsom and Ewell since he was a child.

After passing his Eleven Plus, he attended then-grammar school Glyn, in Ewell, although he did not go on to university after failing his A-Levels. 

Mr Leach said standing against Chris Grayling, who has been Epsom and Ewell’s Conservative MP since 2001, will be challenging but that he does not see himself as a "no-hoper".

And he does not believe Epsom’s RA council needs to worry about having votes snatched from UKIP in next year's borough elections.

He said: "Epsom and Ewell has returned a Conservative MP for over 100 years.

"In the SCC elections last year, in three out of the five divisions in Epsom and Ewell, UKIP secured more votes than the Tories.

"UKIP is successful in taking votes from all the parties and taking votes from people who have never voted before. 

"But the one area from which UKIP doesn’t take votes is the RA.

"It is said that you’re wasting your time standing against the RA in an area where they have become established as they have in Epsom and Ewell."

He added: "I like Chris Grayling as a person, we have been to the pub together. 

"He is very much on the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative party but we do have different views.

"I don’t think the Conservatives will win the next General Election.

"I would welcome opportunities to meet various groups. 

"The problem with being a UKIP person is no one wants to debate the issues with us. 

"A few people say daft things and it’s endlessly re-quoted. 

"For example, we are not anti-immigration.  I value the friendships and fellowship we have."

When asked about his views on Mr Leach's parliamentary bid, Epsom Councillor Clive Woodbridge, chairman of the Residents’ Association group of councillors, said: "The RA has never fielded a parliamentary candidate. 

"In terms of who residents vote for in the General Election is a matter for them. 

"The RA mantra is local politics for local people so we are not involved in national politics."

But Coun Woodbridge added: "I’ve never understood UKIP standing in local elections."

For more on the General Election battle in Epsom and Ewell visit www.epsomguardian.co.uk/generalelection2015

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