Theresa Griffin

Theresa Griffin (born 11 December 1962) is a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the North West England from 2014 to 2020. In the European Parliament, Griffin was aligned with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).[1]

Theresa Griffin
Griffin in 2014
Chair of the European Parliamentary Labour Party
In office
14 September 2016 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byRichard Howitt
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
In office
1 July 2014 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byArlene McCarthy
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1962-12-11) 11 December 1962
Coventry, England, UK
Political partyLabour
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Alma materLancaster University
Websitehttp://www.theresagriffin.eu

Early life

Theresa Griffin was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, the fourth child of Irish immigrant parents[2] where her father was a machinist in the British Leyland car factory and her mother was a teaching assistant.[3] Griffin attended Bishop Ullathorne Comprehensive school and achieved a first class B.A. and an M.A. from Lancaster University.[4]

Political career

Theresa Griffin has been a member of the Labour Party member since 1988. She was a member of Unite’s North West Political Committee and represented North West CLPs on the National Policy Forum. Griffin has also been a Regional Organiser for the public services union, UNISON and, spanning from an early career in community theatre, she was Director of Communications and Research at North West Arts.[5] She was a local government councillor for the City Council in Liverpool in the 1990s.[2][3] As a Liverpool City Councillor, she was the lead member for Economic Development and Europe and was instrumental in bringing Objective One status and billions of pounds of investment to the Liverpool City Region.[5]

European Parliament
Griffin speaking at a 2016 Labour Party Conference fringe meeting

Theresa Griffin previously stood in the 1999 European Parliament election, 2004 European Parliament election and 2009 European Parliament election as a Labour candidate for the North West England region. In 2009 she lost out to the British National Party's Nick Griffin (no relation).[6]

She stood in 2014 European Parliament election, again as a Labour Party candidate for the North West England region, and was elected as the first candidate on the winning Labour Party list.[6]

Griffin is a full member and Labour Party Spokesperson for the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee and a substitute member on the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee and has been assigned to the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China. In October 2014, she was appointed the S&D Shadow Rapporteur for an Opinion on the ITRE Committee about greenhouse gas emission trading.[7]

Griffin is also a member of several Intergroups – similar to the "All Party Parliamentary Groups" in Westminster. Griffin follows the Disability Rights, the Digital Agenda for Europe, Children's Rights and Well-being, LGBTI, SMEs, Tourism, Trade Union and Urban Intergroups.[5]

She supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[8]

Theresa Griffin is the winner of the Energy Award, MEP Awards 2017.[9]

She was re-elected at the 2019 European Parliament election

Work in the European Parliament

Issues Across the North West
  • Tyre Safety: Griffin is working closely with Steve Rotheram MP on improving tyre safety across the European Union. This follows from the death of three people, from the North West of England, in a coach crash on the way back from Bestival in 2012, due to the blow out of a 19.5 year old tyre.[10]
  • Workers' Rights: Griffin is supporting the Cammell Laird strikers fight for justice in the European Parliament, believing the strikers to be the victims of a gross miscarriage of justice.[11][12] Griffin is also a strong advocate of Fair Pay Fortnight which campaigns for higher wages for workers.[13]
  • Regional EU Funding: Griffin is working to ensure that the UK Government is correctly allocating EU funding to the North West region.[14]

Issues Across Europe
  • Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Griffin is a supporter of CCS technology as part of a suite of solutions to combat climate change,[15] provide a more sustainable solution to heavy industry and enhance energy security.[16]
  • Market Stability Reserve (MSR) for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS): Griffin is a strong advocate of a MSR for the EU ETS. In January 2015 Griffin led a progressive coalition to secure a 'historic rejection' of right-wing proposals to 'weaken' the ETS.[17][18][19] Griffin affirmed that the final report would have been "highly regressive and would have had an extremely negative impact on the ETS without benefiting industry in the long run.".[20][21]
  • Energy Policy Advice: Griffin has written several articles on energy policy detailing the importance of the coordination of national energy policies in order to achieve EU-wide energy efficiency and security[22] In March 2015, Griffin contributed to the tenth report of the UK Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee outlining future UK energy and climate change policy challenges, with particular focus on fuel poverty.[23]

Campaigns

Griffin is an active campaigner on issues relating to employment rights, women's rights, children's rights, disabled persons' rights, LGBTI rights, xenophobia and health.[24]

Griffin has a particular interest in campaigning for more EU funding in global health research to aid the eradication of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.[25][26]

Membership of Committees, Delegations and Intergroups
  • Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
  • Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
  • Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China
  • Committee on Transport and Tourism (Substitute member)
  • Intergroups: Disability Rights, the Digital Agenda for Europe, Children's Rights and Well-being, LGBTI, SMEs, Tourism, Trade Union and Urban

References
  1. "European Parliament MEPs:Theresa GRIFFIN". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  2. Wynne-Jones, Ros (21 May 2014). "The Griffin who is determined to kick out her racist BNP leader namesake in the European elections". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. "About Theresa". Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  4. "North West Euro Candidates 2014". UK Polling Report. 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  5. "About Theresa". Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. "BNP leader Nick Griffin loses North West Euro seat". BBC News. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. "GMB working together with Labour MEPs - North West Region". GMB. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  8. Smith, Mikey; Bloom, Dan (20 July 2016). "Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?". Mirror. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  9. "MEP Awards 2017 - Winners". MEP Awards. Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  10. "Steve Rotheram calls for debate on tyres after Bestival crash". Liverpool Echo. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  11. "European Parliament to demand apology for former shipyard workers". ITV News. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  12. "Former Cammell Laird shipyard worker wins European Parliament backing in 30 year battle for justice". Liverpool Echo. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  13. "North West MEP shows support for Fair Pay Fortnight". TUC. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  14. "Government must "act fast" over EU funding for North West". Bolton News. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  15. http://www.zeroemissionsplatform.eu/events/details/262-zepga2014.html
  16. "Theresa Griffin wants CCS technology strategy". Agence Europe. 11 November 2014.
  17. "EU industry panel support grows for 2017 CO2 market reserve start". Platts Commodity News. 4 December 2014.
  18. "Labour MEP secures historic rejection of opposition opinion on carbon trading scheme". Euro Labour. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  19. "S&Ds stop right-wing attempt to weaken the Emissions Trading System (ETS)". S&D Press. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  20. "EU carbon plummets as panel rejects market fix recommendation". Bloomberg. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  21. "EU carbon market price expected to rise before 2020 following MEPs' vote". The Guardian. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  22. "Improving coordination of national energy policies and speaking with one voice in external energy policy". The European Files No34. December 2014. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  23. "'Fuelling the debate: Committee successes and future challenges" (PDF). Energy and Climate Change Committee. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  24. "Campaigns Around the European Parliament, January – March 2015". Personal Site. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  25. "World TB Day at the European Parliament - Celebrate with DSW & the "Let's Save Lives" Campaign". DSW. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  26. "Europe can lead in eliminating TB by 2035". New Europe. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
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