Michael John Welsh (born 22 May 1942) is a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He served three terms 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) from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, after which he entered local government as a member of

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

from 1997 to 2013. He led the Conservative group on the authority from 2003 to 2008.

Early life and career

Welsh was educated at the independent school

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

and at Lincoln College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He joined the clothing company Levi Strauss & Co., and became their director of market development in 1976.

European Parliament

At the 1979 European Parliament elections, Welsh fought and won the Lancashire Central seat for the Conservative Party. This constituency included

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

and Preston. He made a specialism in the textile industry which was a major employer in Lancashire. In 1981 he acted as rapporteur for the committee on External Economic Arrangements on the renewal of the

Multi Fibre Agreement The Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) governed the world trade in textiles and garments from 1974 through 1994, imposing quotas on the amount developing countries could export to developed countries. Its successor, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothin ...

, and argued that the agreement should be extended for ten years, during which export levels should be fixed; he urged nations developing their textile industries not to force the EEC to put in protectionist measures. Later in the 1980s Welsh wrote a series of pamphlets concerning labour market policy, the European Community's role in collective security, the effects of German reunification on Europe, and on accountability of European institutions to the United Kingdom Parliament. He was narrowly re-elected at the 1989 election, when the Labour Party performed well.

Defeat

In the 1994 election, Welsh lost his seat to the Labour candidate

Mark Hendrick Sir Mark Phillip Hendrick (born 2 November 1958) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Preston since a by-election in 2000. Hendrick was previously elected to the Central Lancashire se ...

. He was given another appointment by the Conservative government of the day as Chairman of Chorley and District NHS Trust, and set up the Action Centre for Europe Ltd, a pro-European Union thinktank for Conservatives. Welsh supported the United Kingdom adopting the Euro as its currency, and was an active participant in the Conservatives' intra-party debate on European policy in the 1990s.

Lancashire County Council

Welsh was elected to

in 1997 from Preston North East Ward. He became Leader of the Conservative group in 2003. He has supported retaining a two-tier approach to local government rather than allowing larger councils to become unitary authorities. In May 2008, he was ousted as the leader of the Conservative group by Geoff Driver.

References

*"Who's Who" A&C Black {{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Michael 1942 births Living people Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MEPs People educated at Dover College Members of Lancashire County Council MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for England 1984–1989 MEPs for England 1989–1994