The European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) was the

parliamentary party A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliame ...

of the British Labour Party in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. The EPLP was part of the pan-European Group of

Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

(S&D), (with MEPs from sister parties such as the French

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, the German

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

, the Swedish

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

and Dutch Labour Party), and which is the parliamentary wing of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom ...

(PES), to which Labour was (and remains) affiliated. Like other national delegations, the EPLP had its own leadership and spokespeople representing Labour in Brussels and Strasbourg (and the EPLP in the UK). The EPLP ceased to exist after the UK left the European Union in January 2020. At the time of dissolution, Labour had 10 Members of the European Parliament.

Leader

The leader of the EPLP had a seat on the Labour Party National Executive Committee and attended shadow cabinet meetings.

List of Leaders of the European Parliamentary Labour Party

Positions in the European Parliament and related bodies

Labour figures held, over the years of UK membership, a number of key positions in the EU, including many held by Labour MEPs in the

. These included: *1 leader of the S&D Group

Pauline Green Dame Pauline Green, (born 8 December 1948) is a former Labour and Co-operative Member of the European Parliament and former Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists (PES). As leader of the PES, she had a central ro ...

*14 Vice-presidents of the Parliament, including the longest serving one ever, David Martin *12 Chairs of Parliamentary committees, including the longest serving

Ken Collins Sir Kenneth Darlingston Collins (born 12 August 1939) is a Scottish former politician who was Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Life Collins was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotlan ...

*The European Parliament's rapporteurs on the Maastricht Treaty, the Amsterdam Treaty, the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty David Martin and

Richard Corbett Richard Graham Corbett CBE (born 6 January 1955) is a former British politician who served as the final Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), from 2017 to 2020. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Merseysi ...

*The draftsman of the revised Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament

*2 Secretaries General of the Group

Julian Priestley Sir Julian Gordon Priestley (26 May 1950 – 22 April 2017) was an English civil-servant who served as Secretary-General of the European Parliament 1997–2007. He was the second President of the Young European Federalists 1974–1976. Biograph ...

and

David Harley David Harley is an IT security researcher, author/editor and consultant living in the United Kingdom, known for his books on and research into malware, Mac security, anti-malware product testing and management of email abuse. Career After a ...

*1 Secretary General of the Parliament

*1 President of the PES

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 whe ...

*1 President of the Commission

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...

*1 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs

Cathy Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the Europe ...

EPLP members were frequently elected as the S&D Group's Committee Co-ordinators, acting as spokespeople for the Group in their respective parliamentary committees and on the subjects they covered.

External links

http://www.eurolabour.org.uk/
{{UK Labour Party Organisation of the Labour Party (UK) Party of European Socialists