Alex Phillips (Green politician)

Alexandra Louise Rosenfield Phillips (born 9 July 1985) is a British politician. She served as a Green Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2019 to 2020. She was Mayor of Brighton and Hove from May 2019 to May 2020; the youngest person to hold the office. Phillips was a Brighton and Hove City councillor between 2009 and 2023.

For the Brexit Party former MEP for South East England and GB News presenter, see Alex Phillips (TV presenter).

Alex Phillips
Phillips in a 2019 political announcement
Member of the European Parliament
for South East England
In office
2 July 2019[1] – 31 January 2020
Preceded byKeith Taylor
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Mayor of Brighton and Hove
In office
22 May 2019 – 15 May 2020
Preceded byDee Simson
Succeeded byAlan Robins
Personal details
Born (1985-07-09) 9 July 1985
Liverpool, England, UK
Political partyGreen Party of England and Wales (since 2003)
Other political
affiliations		Labour Party (2001–2003)
SpouseTom Druitt
Children2
ResidenceBrighton
Alma materUniversity of London Institute in Paris
UCL Institute of Education
OccupationPolitician

Early life and local political career

Phillips was born on 9 July 1985 in Liverpool, Merseyside, to Roger Phillips and Margaret Rosenfield.[2][3] She is of Jewish heritage.[4] Her father worked as a presenter for BBC Radio Merseyside for 42 years before retiring in 2020.[5] Her younger sister, Ellie Phillips, works as a television presenter and journalist.[6][7]

Brought up in Liverpool, Phillips was initially a Labour Party activist with her mother, joining the party at the age of 16.[8] In 2003 she resigned from Labour and joined the Green Party as a result of the then Labour government's decision to invade Iraq.[9] She holds a bachelor's degree in French Studies from the University of London Institute in Paris and a PGCE from the UCL Institute of Education.[10]

Phillips moved to Brighton in 2008.[11] She was elected to represent the Goldsmid ward on Brighton and Hove City Council in a 2009 by-election,[12] and re-elected in 2011.[13] In subsequent council elections she contested the Regency ward, winning a seat in both 2015 and 2019.[14][15] She became Brighton's youngest mayor in 2019 after being selected for the role by her fellow councillors.[16][17][18] She finished her term as mayor in May 2020.[19] Outside of her council roles, she has worked as the policy lead at the HIV and sexual health charity, Terrence Higgins Trust, and as a French and German language secondary school teacher in Croydon, London, and later Hampshire.[10][17][20] In 2022, Phillips announced that she and her husband were stepping down as councillors ahead of the May 2023 elections.[21]

European Parliament

In the 2014 European parliamentary election, Phillips stood as a candidate in the South East England constituency. She was second on her party's list after Keith Taylor (Green Party MEP since 2010).[22][23] In the election, the Green Party won just one seat in South East England which therefore went to Taylor as their first-placed candidate.[24] Phillips worked as Senior Campaigns Coordinator for Green Party MP Caroline Lucas's successful general election campaigns in 2010 and 2015.[25] She supported the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[26]

Phillips contested the 2019 European Parliament election in the South East England constituency. This time she was first on her party's list, Taylor having chosen not to seek re-election.[27] In the same constituency, another candidate called Alexandra Phillips also stood as a candidate but for the Brexit Party.[28] In the election, both were elected as MEPs.[29] In the European Parliament, she was a member of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and part of the delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.[2]

House of Commons bid

Phillips was the Green Party candidate for Brighton Kemptown at the 2019 general election. She finished fourth out of five candidates.[30]

Personal life

Phillips is married to Tom Druitt, a fellow Green Party Brighton and Hove councillor and managing director of The Big Lemon (a bus and coach operator in Brighton). They both hold shares in the company which has a contract with the city council.[31] They have two children.[32]

References
  1. "After the European Parliament elections – what happens next?". European Parliament. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. "Alexandra Louise Rosenfield Phillips". European Parliament. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. Tansley, Janet (13 April 2016). "I emailed myself to say: If I die tonight my boyfriend did it". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  4. Phillips, Alexandra [@alexforeurope] (18 September 2019). "My 3rd #Strasbourg session and I'm still learning... I wasn't able to do an 'explanation of vote' video in the end - which would have been in the hemicycle itself. So have done a standard video instead which covers what I wanted to say in the plenary debate" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 September 2019 – via Twitter.
  5. "Roger Phillips: BBC boss Tony Hall leads tributes to radio 'legend'". BBC News. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  6. "Manchester born but made in Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. 11 December 2003. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  7. "Ellie Phillips". Muck Rack. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  8. "Meet Alex Phillips". Green European Foundation. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  9. "Alex Phillips is first candidate for Green Party Deputy Leader". Bright Green. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  10. "Alexandra Phillips, MEP candidate for SE England". Green Party. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. "South East: Alexandra Phillips". Green World. Green Party. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  12. "Election results for Goldsmid". Brighton and Hove City Council. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  13. "Election results for Goldsmid". Brighton and Hove City Council. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  14. "Election results for Regency". Brighton and Hove City Council. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  15. "Election results for Regency". Brighton and Hove City Council. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  16. "Cllr Alexandra Phillips: New Mayor of Brighton & Hove". Brighton and Hove City Council. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  17. de Luc, Frank (16 December 2017). "Youngest ever mayor chosen for Brighton and Hove". Brighton and Hove News. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  18. Bullmore, Harry (23 May 2019). "Council leader, opposition leader and committee chairs announced". The Argus. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  19. Bullmore, Harry (16 May 2020). "Cllr Alan Robins elected Brighton and Hove mayor". The Argus. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  20. "Declaration of Members' Financial Interests" (PDF). European Parliament. p. 1. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  21. Green, Daniel (12 January 2022). "Green councillors Tom Druitt and Alex Phillips announce they will not stand in 2023". The Argus. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  22. "Vote 2014: European election candidates for the South East". BBC News. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  23. "Declaration of return as a member of the European Parliament" (PDF). Adur and Worthing Council. 1 June 2010. p. 1. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  24. "Results of the 2014 European Parliament elections in the UK". European Parliament. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  25. "Alexandra Phillips". South East England Green Party. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  26. Snaith, Emma (27 May 2019). "These two MEPs both called Alexandra Phillips with opposite views won in the same region". The Independent. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  27. "2019 European elections: List of candidates for the South East". BBC News. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  28. le Duc, Frank (7 May 2019). "Two candidates called Alexandra Phillips in European elections". Brighton and Hove News. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  29. "Alexandra Phillips: Confusion as South East elects two MEPs with same name". The Irish News. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
  30. "Brighton, Kemptown (Constituency) 2019 results". UK Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  31. "Register of Interests". Brighton and Hove City Council. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  32. Booker-Lewis, Sarah (25 June 2022). "Audit into councillor Alex Phillips's expenses finds overpayments". The Argus. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
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