Imelda Mary Read (born 8 January 1939), known as Mel Read, is a British politician who served 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 ...

. Read was educated at Bishopshalt Grammar School and the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, before becoming a laboratory technician, then an employment officer, and a lecturer. At the 1979 general election, she stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party in Melton, and at the 1983 general election, she was unsuccessful in

North West Leicestershire North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock. The dist ...

. Read became an MEP in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, 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 Exxo ...

, representing first

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, 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 l ...

and then Nottingham and Leicestershire North West until

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. She served as a

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

for part of this period. From 1999, she represented the enlarged seat of the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

. She stood down at the 2004 European election, at which time she was elected as President of the European Cervical Cancer Association. Read then resigned from the role in 2008

References

1939 births Living people Alumni of the University of Nottingham Labour Party (UK) MEPs Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates MEPs for England 1989–1994 MEPs for England 1994–1999 MEPs for England 1999–2004 20th-century women MEPs for England 21st-century women MEPs for England {{UK-MEP-stub