1. John Douglas Wilson Carswell was born on 3 May 1971 and is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017, co-founded Vote Leave, and since 2021 serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Douglas Carswell stood in the subsequent by-election and was returned under his new affiliation, becoming the first elected MP for UKIP.
Douglas Carswell left UKIP on 25 March 2017 to sit as an independent MP.
Douglas Carswell did not stand at the 2017 general election.
Douglas Carswell was born in Africa and lived in Uganda until his late teens.
Douglas Carswell later attributed his libertarianism to his experiences of the "arbitrary rule" of Idi Amin.
Douglas Carswell's mother, Margaret Jane nee Clark was a doctor and ornithologist.
Douglas Carswell was educated at two independent boarding schools for boys: St Andrews School in Turi in Kenya in East Africa, and Charterhouse in Godalming, Surrey, in southern England, followed by the University of East Anglia, where he was taught by Edward Acton, and graduated with an upper second-class honours bachelor's degree in history in 1993.
Douglas Carswell then attended King's College London, receiving a master's degree in British imperial history.
Douglas Carswell worked as corporate development manager for television broadcasting in Italy from 1997 until 1999, and later for Invesco.
At the 2001 general election, Douglas Carswell contested Sedgefield, the constituency of Prime Minister Tony Blair, as the Conservative candidate.
Douglas Carswell was elected to the House of Commons at the 2005 general election for the constituency of Harwich, defeating Ivan Henderson, the sitting Labour Member of Parliament, by 920 votes.
Douglas Carswell made his maiden speech on 28 June 2005 in the debate on the Identity Cards Bill.
Douglas Carswell was a member of Conservative Friends of Israel.
Douglas Carswell served on the House of Commons' Education Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.
In December 2009, Douglas Carswell tabled a Bill in the House of Commons calling for a public referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.
Douglas Carswell strongly advocated for electoral reform, including the right for constituents to be able to recall MPs.
On 28 August 2014, Douglas Carswell defected from the Conservatives to UKIP.
Less than a month before switching parties, Douglas Carswell had approved a letter from Conservative supporter Giles Watling to a local newspaper describing UKIP as a "one policy party" and saying "a vote for Ukip will be a vote for Labour".
Douglas Carswell was successful at the by-election on 9 October 2014, with a substantial majority of 12,404 votes over his nearest rival.
Douglas Carswell later contrasted his willingness to put his switch of parties to the electorate to that of the eleven anti-Brexit MPs who switched to The Independent Group, none of whom held by-elections when changing parties.
In March 2017, Douglas Carswell quit UKIP to become an independent MP for Clacton, leaving UKIP with no MPs in Parliament.
On 20 April 2017, following the announcement two days earlier by Prime Minister Theresa May of a snap general election, Douglas Carswell confirmed he would not be a candidate in the June election.
Douglas Carswell said that while Farage had "played a role" in the referendum, the resignation was "a huge opportunity" for the party.
New Statesman commentator Stephen Bush has argued that Douglas Carswell was correct to recognise that a successful Brexit campaign depended on its messages being associated with people other than Farage, but observed that there "is no electoral majority to be found in Britain for the libertarian brand of conservatism that Douglas Carswell espouses".
In November 2020, Douglas Carswell was appointed to a three-year term as a non-executive director for the Department for International Trade.
In January 2021 Douglas Carswell was appointed as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and left the UK.
In June 2024, Douglas Carswell expressed his support for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage's candidacy for his previously held constituency of Clacton, stating that he was "thrilled Nigel Farage is standing in my old seat".
Douglas Carswell was portrayed by actor Simon Paisley Day in the 2019 HBO and Channel 4-produced drama Brexit: The Uncivil War.