Glenis Willmott

Dame Glenis Willmott
DBE MEP
Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party
Assumed office
18 January 2009
Preceded by Gary Titley
Member of the European Parliament
for the East Midlands
Assumed office
1 January 2006
Preceded by Phillip Whitehead
Personal details
Born Glenis Scott
(1951-03-04) 4 March 1951
Horden, County Durham, England
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Alma mater Trent Polytechnic
Profession Medical scientist
Website http://www.gleniswillmott.eu

Dame Glenis Willmott, DBE (née Scott, born 4 March 1951) is a British politician, currently leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) and Labour member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands.

Early life and career

Willmott was born in the mining village of Horden, County Durham, but moved to Mansfield with her family at the age of 10. She was educated in Mansfield and at Trent Polytechnic where she obtained an HNC in medical science. She worked as a medical scientist for the National Health Service at King's Mill and Mansfield Hospitals from 1969 to 1990.[1]

She was chair of Mansfield Constituency Labour Party and a member of Nottinghamshire County Council for the Leeming and Forest Town division from 1989 to 1993.[2] She also worked as an assistant to Alan Meale (Member of Parliament for Mansfield) from 1987 to 1990.[1]

In 1990 she became political officer for the GMB trade union Midland and East Coast region. She served as chair of the East Midlands Regional Labour Party and was second on the Labour Party list of candidates for the European Parliament in the 2004 elections to the European Parliament in East Midlands.[1]

European Parliament

On 1 January 2006 she replaced the late Phillip Whitehead as a member of the European Parliament for East Midlands following the latter's death.[3] The Labour party is part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PASD) European group.

In July 2006 she was elected to the position of Chief Whip of the Labour MEPs in the European Parliament, a position she held until January 2009, when she was elected as the Leader of the Labour MEPs, replacing Gary Titley who had resigned the post.[4][5] She is now the longest serving leader of the EPLP, surpassing Barbara Castle and Gary Titley.

Committee and Delegations Membership

As of 2014, Willmott sits (or is a substitute) on the following Committees and Delegations:[5]

In September 2014, she was appointed rapporteur for changes to medical devices legislation primarily triggered by scandals involving PIP breast implants and 'metal-on-metal' hip replacements.[6]
She also hosted an PASD event at the Espace Léopold focussed on improved labelling of alcoholic drinks. [7][8]
In October 2014, Willmott received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Belgian Association of Clinical Research Professionals for her work on clinical trials legislation.[9]

2014 Election Campaign

In May 2014, Willmott launched her East Midlands campaign in Derby "promising to help people struggling with the cost of living".[10] She said the Conservatives wanted to help energy companies and bankers. "Nearly 340,000 East Midland jobs depended on continued membership but the Tories hadn't said what aspects of EU membership they wanted to renegotiate or when they would do it. An EU referendum would just be a distraction when Britain was trying to improve its economy". She also claimed UKIP's stated objective of "cutting red tape" were really about "cutting people's rights at work".[10]
In the East Midlands where five seats were contested, Labour retained Willmott's seat and increased their share of the vote by 8%.[11]

Personal life

She lives in Leicestershire with her husband Ted.[1]

Damehood

Willmott was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 Dissolution Honours Lists on 27 August 2015.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "About me". Glenis Willmott MEP. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "1989 election results: Leeming and Forest Town". Nottinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "GLENIS WILLMOTT NAMED AS NEW LABOUR MEP". European Report. 11 January 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2014 – via HighBeam Research. (subscription required (help)).
  4. ↑ "Member of the European Parliament:Glenis Willmott". CENTRAL VILLAGES LABOUR PARTY. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 "MEP Profiles: Glenis Willmott". European Parliament. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Medical devices rapporteur". Glenis Willmott MEP. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Event explores European Commission decision to exempt alcohol from EU labelling legislation". Institute of Alcohol Studies. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Better alcohol labelling event". Glenis Willmott MEP. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Outstanding Leadership Award". Belgian Association of Clinical Research Professionals. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  10. 1 2 Dan Martin (7 May 2014). "Labour launches East Midlands European election campaign in Leicester". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "East Midlands European election results, 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Prime Minister's Office (27 August 2015). "Press release Dissolution Honours 2015". Gov.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
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