Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one month into his term after UKIP withdrew the whip from him due to investigation into his expenses.
Married with two children, Mote was a management consultant who ran a marketing business in Woking, Surrey, employing thirteen full-time staff, for eighteen years before it closed in 1989 as a result of the late 1980s recession.
[clarification needed] In June 2004, Mote was elected to the European Parliament as a representative of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) for the South East England constituency, after campaigning to clean up sleaze in Brussels.
[1] In 2005, he joined Hans Peter Martin and Paul van Buitenen in a loose political group called "Platform for Transparency" which promoted accountability in the European Union.
In 2007, he transferred his allegiance to the new far-right group Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty, whose members included Jean-Marie Le Pen and Alessandra Mussolini.
During much of 2007 Mote was in prison in England, having been found guilty of fraud, after his attempts to claim immunity as a member of the European Parliament had proved unsuccessful.
[8] In 2004, the Department for Work and Pensions brought criminal charges against Mote for allegedly claiming £32,000 in income support and £35,000 in housing benefit from Chichester District Council over a six-year period without declaring his monthly earnings of £4,000.
On 3 February 2005, the Attorney General applied to the Parliament whose Committee on Legal Affairs unanimously granted the waiver on 20 June and gave its approval to proceedings continuing in England.
He gave no notice of his application to the Attorney General, nor to Judge Aikens at Lewes Crown Court, meaning that the British Government was unable to intervene in the case.
[11] A four-week trial commenced at Portsmouth Crown Court in July 2007; proceedings against Mote were led by government lawyers who had taken over the case from Chichester District Council in late 2005.
[13] In total, Mote spent just short of £73,000 between 20 February 1996 and 29 September 2002 to fund a "luxury lifestyle", regularly dining out and holidaying in France, The Caribbean and the United States.
Judge Richard Price warned him to expect a custodial sentence, but allowed bail on condition that Mote surrendered his British and diplomatic passports, as well as providing £50,000 in sureties.
During sentencing, Judge Price said that Mote, "a truly dishonest man", had executed a "carefully planned scheme of dishonesty" and had taken "a great deal of trouble to cover [his] tracks", adding that "[t]o say that this case has ruined you is an understatement, it is a tragedy.
"[citation needed] Mote's defence counsel described his client as a Walter Mitty character and admitted that the sentence was a "massive fall from grace".
"[21][better source needed] The Commons Leader Harriet Harman shared these concerns and said that she was "in discussions regarding how we might explore options for reviewing the legislation", adding that "[t]he aim of this would be to ensure that, in future, the salaries of MPs and MEPs who are in prison would not be paid on the basis that they are not actually carrying out all their functions.