Julie McCulloch Girling (born 21 December 1956) is a British politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) for

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

between 2009 and 2019, and leader of the

Renew Party The Renew Party was a minor centrist political party in the United Kingdom. It was set up in 2017 to provide an alternative for moderate voters in the wake of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. The party described i ...

from 2019 to 2020. Formerly a

Conservative 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 i ...

, she was suspended from the party in 2017 and in February 2018 joined the

European People's Party group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of Member of the European Parliament, deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes ...

, while sitting as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. She supported

Change UK The Independent Group for Change, also known as Change UK, was a British centrist, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, shortly after all its MPs lost their seats in the 2019 general e ...

in April 2019. In May 2019, she called on voters to support the Liberal Democrats, and in June was appointed as interim leader of the

Life

Girling was educated at Twickenham County Grammar School, followed by the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

from which she graduated BA in History and Politics in 1979. Her first job was as a graduate trainee with

Ford Motors Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobile ...

from 1979 to 1982. She then spent six years as a buyer with

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

, leaving in 1988 to become a marketing manager at Dixons. She then held similar positions with

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

and

Halfords Halfords Group PLC is the UK's largest retailer of motoring and cycling products and services. Through Halfords Autocentre, they provide vehicle servicing, MOT, maintenance and repairs in the United Kingdom. Halfords Group is listed on the Lon ...

, which she left in 1993. She was a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

trainer from 1995 to 2009.'GIRLING, Julie McCulloch', in '' Who's Who 2014'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2014)
online edition
by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2013, accessed 17 January 2014 In 1981, she married Warren Glyn Girling; they have one son.

Political career

Girling was a

member of

Cotswold District Council The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames, Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the be ...

from 1999 to 2009, serving as Leader of the Council from 2003 to 2006. She also served on

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is a county council which administers the most strategic local government services in the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in the South West of England. The council's principal functions are county road ...

from 2000 to 2009, rising to become its Cabinet Member for the Environment. She stepped down from both local government leadership positions in the run-up to the European Parliament elections of 2009, at which she was elected as a

for

. She and fellow MEP

Richard Ashworth Richard James Ashworth (born 17 September 1947 in Folkestone) is a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England for Change UK. He formerly sat in the European Parliament for the Conservative Party, and was that Party ...

were suspended from the Conservative Party and had the

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

withdrawn on 7 October 2017, after both supported a vote in Strasbourg stating that not enough progress had been made in the first-stage Brexit negotiations to allow discussion to move onto the trade-deal phase of the talks; however, they remained in the

European Conservatives and Reformists The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...

(ECR) parliamentary group. On 28 February 2018, both MEPs left the ECR group to join the

. On 16 April 2019, it was announced that both Girling and Ashworth had joined

. Girling said she was "looking forward to being able to use my extensive experience as part of the Change UK team". However, on 10 May, Girling encouraged Remain supporters in the South West to vote for the Liberal Democrats in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

, saying they are "clearly the lead Remain party in the South West". Girling and Change UK later stated that she had never been a member or one of their MEPs. She did not stand for re-election in 2019. On 7 June 2019 she became interim leader of the

. On 18 November 2019, and in her role as leader of Renew, she was one of four minor party representatives who took part in an election debate for LBC Radio ahead of the 2019 general election; the debate was chaired by

Iain Dale Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author and political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. In 2005, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to c ...

. Girling announces her intention to step down from her leadership role in July 2020. James Clarke was elected to succeed her on 7 July 2020.

References

External links

Julie Girling's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girling, Julie 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Councillors in Gloucestershire European People's Party politicians MEPs for England 2009–2014 MEPs for England 2014–2019 21st-century women MEPs for England Leaders of local authorities of England Women councillors in England Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom