Theresa Griffin

Theresa Griffin (born 11 December 1962) is a British politician who served as a Labour Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2014 to 2020. In the European Parliament, Griffin was aligned with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).[1]

For the New Zealand swimmer, see Theresa Griffin (swimmer).

Theresa Griffin
Griffin in 2014
Chair of the European Parliamentary Labour Party
In office
14 September 2016 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byRichard Howitt
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
In office
1 July 2014 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byArlene McCarthy
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1962-12-11) 11 December 1962
Coventry, England, UK
Political partyLabour
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Alma materLancaster University
Websitewww.theresagriffin.co.uk

Early life

Theresa Griffin was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, the fourth child of Irish immigrant parents.[2] Her father was a machinist in the British Leyland car factory and her mother was a teaching assistant.[3] Griffin attended Bishop Ullathorne Comprehensive school and achieved a first class B.A. and an M.A. from Lancaster University.[4]

Political career

Griffin has been a member of the Labour Party since 1988. She was a member of Unite's North West Political Committee and represented North West Constituency Labour Partys on the National Policy Forum. Griffin has also served as a Regional Organiser for the public services union, UNISON. She was Director of Communications and Research at North West Arts.[5] She was a local government councillor on Liverpool City Council in the 1990s.[2][3] As a Liverpool City Councillor, she was the lead member for Economic Development and Europe.[5]

European Parliament
Griffin speaking at a 2016 Labour Party Conference fringe meeting

Theresa Griffin previously stood in the 1999 European Parliament election, 2004 European Parliament election and 2009 European Parliament election as a Labour candidate for the North West England region. In 2009 she lost out to the British National Party's Nick Griffin (no relation).[6]

She stood in the 2014 European Parliament election, again as a Labour Party candidate for the North West England region, and was elected as the first candidate on the winning Labour Party list.[6]

She supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[7]

Theresa Griffin is the winner of the Energy Award, MEP Awards 2017.[8]

She was re-elected at the 2019 European Parliament election,[9] serving until Britain formally exited the EU on 31st January 2020.

Work in the European Parliament

Griffin supported the Cammell Laird strikers petition to the European Parliament in 2014, believing the strikers to be the victims of a miscarriage of justice.[10][11] She supported the "Fair Pay Fortnight" in 2015, which campaigned for higher wages for workers.[12]

In 2014 Griffin called on the UK Government to correctly allocate EU funding to the North West region.[13]

She supported Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology as part of climate change mitigation.[14][15]

Griffin advocated a Market Stability Reserve (MSR) for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). In January 2015 she led a progressive coalition to vote in rejecting proposals that she said would weaken the ETS.[16][17][18] Griffin said that the final report would have been "highly regressive and would have had an extremely negative impact on the ETS without benefiting industry in the long run."[19][20]

Griffin has written several articles on energy policy, calling for EU-wide coordination of national energy policies. In March 2015, she contributed to the tenth report of the UK Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee, outlining future UK energy and climate change policy requirements, with particular focus on fuel poverty.[21]

In 2015 Griffin called for more EU funding to global health research to aid the eradication of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.[22][23]

Griffin was a full member and Labour Party Spokesperson for the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee, a substitute member on the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee and was assigned to the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China. In October 2014, she was appointed the S&D Shadow Rapporteur for an Opinion on the ITRE Committee about greenhouse gas emission trading.[24] She was also a member of the EU Intergroups (cross-party working groups) on Disability Rights, the Digital Agenda for Europe, Children's Rights and Well-being, LGBTI, SMEs, Tourism, Trade Union and Urban.[5]

References
  1. "European Parliament MEPs:Theresa GRIFFIN". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  2. Wynne-Jones, Ros (21 May 2014). "The Griffin who is determined to kick out her racist BNP leader namesake in the European elections". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  3. "About Theresa". Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  4. "North West Euro Candidates 2014". UK Polling Report. 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  5. "About Theresa". Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. "BNP leader Nick Griffin loses North West Euro seat". BBC News. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  7. Smith, Mikey; Bloom, Dan (20 July 2016). "Which MPs are nominating Owen Smith in the Labour leadership contest?". Mirror. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  8. "MEP Awards 2017 - Winners". MEP Awards. Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  9. "9th parliamentary term | Theresa GRIFFIN | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  10. "European Parliament to demand apology for former shipyard workers". ITV News. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  11. "Former Cammell Laird shipyard worker wins European Parliament backing in 30 year battle for justice". Liverpool Echo. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  12. "North West MEP shows support for Fair Pay Fortnight". TUC. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  13. "Government must "act fast" over EU funding for North West". Bolton News. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  14. "ZEP 2014 General Assembly on CCS as an essential part of Europe's industrial growth equation". zeroemissionsplatform.eu. 10 November 2014. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016.
  15. "Theresa Griffin wants CCS technology strategy". Agence Europe. 11 November 2014.
  16. "EU industry panel support grows for 2017 CO2 market reserve start". Platts Commodity News. 4 December 2014.
  17. "Labour MEP secures historic rejection of opposition opinion on carbon trading scheme". Euro Labour. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  18. "S&Ds stop right-wing attempt to weaken the Emissions Trading System (ETS)". S&D Press. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  19. "EU carbon plummets as panel rejects market fix recommendation". Bloomberg. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  20. "EU carbon market price expected to rise before 2020 following MEPs' vote". The Guardian. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  21. "'Fuelling the debate: Committee successes and future challenges" (PDF). Energy and Climate Change Committee. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  22. "World TB Day at the European Parliament - Celebrate with DSW & the "Let's Save Lives" Campaign". DSW. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  23. "Europe can lead in eliminating TB by 2035". New Europe. 21 March 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  24. "GMB working together with Labour MEPs - North West Region". GMB. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
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