Brian Simpson
Encyclopedia
Brian Simpson is a Member of the European Parliament
for the Labour Party
for North West England
.
He was a member of the European Parliament
from 1989 until 1999 representing Cheshire East
and from 1999 until 2004 representing the North West Region, when European Elections switched from First Past the Post to the List System. He lost his seat at the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections
. He returned to the European Parliament in September 2006 and was re-elected again in 2009.
He is currently the President of the European Parliaments Transport and Tourism Committee after serving as the Socialist Group Spokesperson on that Committee for many years.He is also a substitute member and Labour spokeperson on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He is also a full member of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand as well as a substitute on the Delegation for relations with the Andean Community.
In the Committee on Transport and Tourism he has worked as the Socialist Group shadow draftperson on the European Commission proposals on the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services, safety on the Community's railways, and is accepted as being one of the senior members of that Committee dealing with Civil Aviation matters. In 2010 he was voted Transport MEP of the year by Parliament Magazine.
Before being elected an MEP he worked as a PE
teacher in Liverpool
and was a County Councillor for Merseyside County
Council, a Member of the Merseyside Police Authority, Deputy Chair of the Liverpool Airport and Councillor at Warrington Borough
Council. In this last position he held the post of Deputy Chair of Finance and Chair of the Performance and Policy Review Unit. During the brief period from 2004 to 2006 that he was out of Parliament he became Director of the North West Rail Campaign.
The son of John Simpson and Freda Simpson (née Mort) he was educated at Golborne Primary School and Golborne Comprehensive School (Wigan Education Authority), before going onto West Midlands College to train as a Physical Education teacher
He is married to Linda (née Gwynn) and has three children. He is passionate about heritage railway, military and transportation history and all sports, especially football, cricket
and rugby league
(he is a keen fan of Wigan Warriors)
Brian Simpson has been actively involved in several organisations outside formal politics holding the positions of Vice-President of the Heritage Railway Association; the presidency of the Warrington
, Halton
and St. Helens
branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; a Life Governorship of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the presidency of Golborne Cricket Club. His love of history is reflected in his considerable knowledge of military history but in particular the American Civil War where that knowledge is considered to be extensive.In 2010 the State of Kentucky in the USA made him a Honary Colonel.
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
for the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
for North West England
North West England (European Parliament constituency)
North West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For the 2009 elections it elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
.
He was a member of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
from 1989 until 1999 representing Cheshire East
Cheshire East (European Parliament constituency)
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
and from 1999 until 2004 representing the North West Region, when European Elections switched from First Past the Post to the List System. He lost his seat at the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections
European Parliament election, 2004 (UK)
The European Parliament election, 2004 was the UK part of the European Parliament election, 2004. It was held on 10 June. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas. It coincided with local and London elections.The Conservative Party...
. He returned to the European Parliament in September 2006 and was re-elected again in 2009.
He is currently the President of the European Parliaments Transport and Tourism Committee after serving as the Socialist Group Spokesperson on that Committee for many years.He is also a substitute member and Labour spokeperson on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He is also a full member of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand as well as a substitute on the Delegation for relations with the Andean Community.
In the Committee on Transport and Tourism he has worked as the Socialist Group shadow draftperson on the European Commission proposals on the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services, safety on the Community's railways, and is accepted as being one of the senior members of that Committee dealing with Civil Aviation matters. In 2010 he was voted Transport MEP of the year by Parliament Magazine.
Before being elected an MEP he worked as a PE
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
teacher in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and was a County Councillor for Merseyside County
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
Council, a Member of the Merseyside Police Authority, Deputy Chair of the Liverpool Airport and Councillor at Warrington Borough
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
Council. In this last position he held the post of Deputy Chair of Finance and Chair of the Performance and Policy Review Unit. During the brief period from 2004 to 2006 that he was out of Parliament he became Director of the North West Rail Campaign.
The son of John Simpson and Freda Simpson (née Mort) he was educated at Golborne Primary School and Golborne Comprehensive School (Wigan Education Authority), before going onto West Midlands College to train as a Physical Education teacher
He is married to Linda (née Gwynn) and has three children. He is passionate about heritage railway, military and transportation history and all sports, especially football, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
(he is a keen fan of Wigan Warriors)
Brian Simpson has been actively involved in several organisations outside formal politics holding the positions of Vice-President of the Heritage Railway Association; the presidency of the Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Halton
Halton (borough)
Halton is a local government district in North West England, with borough status and administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998. It consists of the towns of Widnes and Runcorn and the civil parishes of...
and St. Helens
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; a Life Governorship of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the presidency of Golborne Cricket Club. His love of history is reflected in his considerable knowledge of military history but in particular the American Civil War where that knowledge is considered to be extensive.In 2010 the State of Kentucky in the USA made him a Honary Colonel.