Career
He served again as interim leader in September to November 2010 following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch. He was the most successful Referendum Party candidate in the 1997 general election, winning nearly 10 percent of the vote in Harwich. However, later that year he joined the UKIP. In 2000, UKIP"s then leader, Michael Holmes, Member of the European Parliament, resigned amidst serious infighting.
This he largely succeeded in doing.
The Guardian newspaper described him in 2001 as "an emollient man, a sort of Willie Whitelaw figure, and an ideal leader for such a fractious party". He led UKIP into the 2001 general election, in which it stood more than 420 candidates but failed to make any breakthroughs (although it did consolidate its position as the largest of the smaller parties).
In October 2002, Titford stepped down as party leader to allow his successor time to lay out his strategy for the 2004 European Election. He was re-elected with a greatly increased share of the vote in the 2004 European elections.
At this election, UKIP also returned a second Member of the European Parliament, Tom Wise.
At the 2005 general election, Titford again contested Harwich. He came fourth of six candidates and polled 2,314 votes, a share of 4.6%, losing his deposit. Titford stepped down from the European Parliament at the 2009 European Parliament Election.
He and Wise were succeeded as UKIP MEPs for the East of England by David Campbell-Bannerman and Stuart Agnew.
In October 2005, UKIP"s leader Roger Knapman announced that he was appointing Titford as party chairman for an interim period. Before entering politics he was a businessman.
He was president of the National Association of Funeral Directors.