Dame Glenis Willmott, (''
née'' Scott; born 4 March 1951) is a retired
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Labour Party politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
who served as leader of the
European Parliamentary Labour Party The European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) was the parliamentary party of the British Labour Party in the European Parliament. The EPLP was part of the pan-European Group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), (with MEPs from sister parties such a ...
(EPLP) and
Member of 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 ...
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
Trent may refer to:
Places Italy
* Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom
* Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany
* Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States
* Trent, California ...
where she obtained an
HNC in
medical science
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
. She worked as a
medical scientist
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...
for the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
at
King's Mill and Mansfield Hospitals from 1969 to 1990.
She was chair of
Mansfield Constituency Labour Party
__NOTOC__
A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency.
In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...
and a member of
Nottinghamshire County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...
for the Leeming and Forest Town division from
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...
to
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
.
She also worked as an
assistant to
Alan Meale
Sir Joseph Alan Meale (born 31 July 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield from 1987 to 2017.
Early life
Meale attended St Joseph RC School in Bishop Auckland and studied at Ruskin ...
(
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for
Mansfield) from 1987 to 1990.
[
In 1990, she became political officer for the GMB trade union's 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 East Midlands region at the 2004 elections to the European Parliament.][ Willmott is a member of the ]Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
and has served as vice-chair.
Member of the European Parliament
On 1 January 2006, she replaced Phillip Whitehead
Phillip Whitehead (30 May 1937 – 31 December 2005) was a British Labour politician, television producer and writer.
Early life
Born in Matlock Bath, Derbyshire, he was adopted by a local family in Rowsley, and attended Lady Manners School ...
as a member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands following his death. Along with other Labour MEPs, she was part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament.
In July 2006, she was elected to the position of Chief Whip of the Labour MEPs, a position she held until January 2009, when she was elected as the Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party The European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) was the parliamentary party of the British Labour Party in the European Parliament. The EPLP was part of the pan-European Group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), (with MEPs from sister parties such a ...
(EPLP), replacing Gary Titley
Gary Titley (born 19 January 1950) is a British Labour Party politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the North West of England.
Born in Salford, Titley was educated at the University of York. He worked as a teache ...
who had resigned the post. She was the longest serving leader of the EPLP, surpassing Barbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, (''née'' Betts; 6 October 1910 – 3 May 2002), was a British Labour Party politician who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1979, making her one of the longest-serving female MPs in Bri ...
and Gary Titley.
In September 2014, she was appointed rapporteur
A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word.
For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...
for changes to medical device
A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...
s legislation primarily triggered by scandals involving PIP breast implants and 'metal-on-metal' hip replacements. In October 2014, Willmott received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Belgian Association of Clinical Research Professionals for her work on clinical trials legislation. She also hosted an S&D event at the Espace Léopold
The Espace Léopold (French; commonly used in English) or Leopoldruimte (Dutch; ) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels, Belgium, housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union (EU). It consists of a ...
focused on improved labelling of alcoholic drinks.
Membership of Committees and Delegations
Following the 2014 election, Willmott sat (or was a substitute) on the following Committees
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
and Delegations:[
* Member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
* Member of the Delegation for relations with Canada.
* Substitute on the ]Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion, free movement for workers and pensio ...
.
* Substitute on the Delegation for relations with Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
2014 election campaign
In May 2014, Willmott launched her East Midlands campaign for the 2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
in Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
"promising to help people struggling with the cost of living". She said the Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
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
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...
's stated objective of "cutting red tape" were really about "cutting people's rights at work".[ In the East Midlands where five seats were contested, Labour retained Willmott's seat and increased their share of the vote by 8%, narrowly missing out on gaining a second seat in the region.]
2016 EU referendum
Although she opposed David Cameron's decision to call the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, Willmott played a prominent role in Labour In for Britain, Labour's campaign for Britain to remain in the EU. She was critical of Cameron's proposed reforms to the EU, including changes to legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
on workers' rights, product standards and environmental protections. She argued that the five key arguments for remaining a member of the EU were on job protection and creation, employment rights, protections for consumers, cross-border security and increased influence on the world stage.
Following the UK's vote to leave the EU, Willmott has argued that if the deal reached during the Brexit negotiations leads to extensive deregulation and weakening of social and workers' rights, then Labour should oppose it. In the aftermath of the referendum result, she wrote a letter on behalf of the EPLP to Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
calling for his resignation as Leader of the Labour Party after a party briefing document appeared to promote the work of Kate Hoey
Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey (born 21 June 1946), better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from 1999 t ...
and Gisela Stuart
Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston (''née'' Gschaider; born 26 November 1955) is a British-German politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the Lab ...
, two key MPs in the rival Labour Leave campaign.
Retirement
Willmott announced in July 2017 that she would stand down in October and was formally replaced as MEP for the East Midlands by Leicester city
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
Rory Palmer
Rory Palmer (born 19 November 1981) is a former British Labour Party politician, who currently works for the charity Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Early life
He attended Hartland School (merged with Portland School in 2004) in Worksop in north No ...
on 3 October. She was replaced as Leader of the EPLP by her colleague 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 ...
. She was honoured with a 'thank you' dinner on 4 November 2017 which celebrated her career and contribution to the Labour Party and European politics
The politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent of Europe. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as ...
; the dinner was attended by Corbyn and former leader Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...
.
Personal life
Willmott lives in Leicestershire with her husband Ted.[ She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2015 Dissolution Honours on 27 August 2015.]
References
External links
European Parliament profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willmott, Glenis
1951 births
Alumni of Nottingham Trent University
British trade unionists
Labour Friends of Israel
Living people
Labour Party (UK) MEPs
People from County Durham (district)
People from Mansfield
People from Leicestershire
Politics of Lincolnshire
MEPs for England 2004–2009
MEPs for England 2009–2014
MEPs for England 2014–2019
21st-century women MEPs for England
Members of Nottinghamshire County Council
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Women councillors in England