Rodney Eric Bainbridge Atkinson (born 1948) is a British Eurosceptic conservative academic, political and economic commentator, journalist and author. Atkinson was formerly a lecturer at the University of Mainz, and has also worked as a merchant banker and government adviser. He founded The Campaign for United Kingdom Conservatism in 1994 and co-founded with Lynn Riley, the cross party South Molton Declaration in 1999 (re-launched as the British Declaration of Independence for the 2005 election). He was Referendum Party candidate in North West Durham in the 1997 General Election (5.2%) and the lead United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) candidate for the North East Region in the 1999 European Elections (8.8%).