Theresa Griffin

Theresa Griffin MEP
Member of the European Parliament for North West
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2014
Preceded by	Arlene McCarthy
Personal details
Born	(1962-12-11) 11 December 1962 Coventry, England, UK
Political party	Labour
Other political affiliations	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Website	http://www.theresagriffin.eu

Theresa Griffin (born 11 December 1962) is a British Member of the European Parliament for the North West England region for the Labour Party since her election in 2014. In the European Parliament, Griffin is aligned with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).^[1]

Early life

Theresa Griffin was born in Coventry, West Midlands, the fourth child of Irish immigrant parents^[2] where 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

Theresa Griffin has been a member of the Labour Party member since 1988. She was a member of Unite’s North West Political Committee and represented North West CLPs on the National Policy Forum. Griffin has also been a Regional Organiser for the public services union, UNISON and, spanning from an early career in community theatre, she was Director of Communications and Research at North West Arts.^[5] She was a local government councillor for the City Council in Liverpool in the 1990s.^[2][3] As a Liverpool City Councillor, she was the lead member for Economic Development and Europe and was instrumental in bringing Objective One status and billions of pounds of investment to the Liverpool City Region.^[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 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]

Griffin is a full member and Labour Party Spokesperson for the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee and a substitute member on the Transport and Tourism (TRAN) Committee and has been 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.^[7]

Griffin is also a member of several Intergroups - similar to the ‘All Party Parliamentary Groups’ in Westminster. Griffin follows the Disability Rights, the Digital Agenda for Europe, Children's Rights and Well-being, LGBTI, SMEs, Tourism, Trade Union and Urban Intergroups.^[5]

Work in the European Parliament

Issues Across the North West

• Tyre Safety: Griffin is working closely with Steve Rotheram MP on improving tyre safety across the European Union. This follows from the death of three people, from the North West of England, in a coach crash on the way back from Bestival in 2012, due to the blow out of a 19.5 year old tyre.^[8]
• Workers' Rights: Griffin is supporting the Cammell Laird strikers fight for justice in the European Parliament, believing the strikers to be the victims of a gross miscarriage of justice.^[9][10] Griffin is also a strong advocate of Fair Pay Fortnight which campaigns for higher wages for workers.^[11]
• Regional EU Funding: Griffin is working to ensure that the UK Government is correctly allocating EU funding to the North West region.^[12]

Issues Across Europe

• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Griffin is a supporter of CCS technology as part of a suite of solutions to combat climate change,^[13] provide a more sustainable solution to heavy industry and enhance energy security.^[14]
• Market Stability Reserve (MSR) for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS): Griffin is a strong advocate of a MSR for the EU ETS. In January 2015 Griffin led a progressive coalition to secure a 'historic rejection' of right-wing proposals to 'weaken' the ETS.^[15][16][17] Griffin affirmed 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.".^[18][19]
• Energy Policy Advice: Griffin has written several articles on energy policy detailing the importance of the coordination of national energy policies in order to achieve EU-wide energy efficiency and security^[20] In March 2015, Griffin contributed to the tenth report of the UK Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee outlining future UK energy and climate change policy challenges, with particular focus on fuel poverty.^[21]

Campaigns

Griffin is an active campaigner on issues relating to employment rights, women's rights, children's rights, disabled persons' rights, LGBTI rights, xenophobia and health.^[22]

Griffin has a particular interest in campaigning for more EU funding in global health research to aid the eradication of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.^[23][24]

Membership of Committees, Delegations and Intergroups

• Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
• Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
• Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China
• Committee on Transport and Tourism (Substitute member)
• Intergroups: Disability Rights, the Digital Agenda for Europe, Children's Rights and Well-being, LGBTI, SMEs, Tourism, Trade Union and Urban

References

External links

• Official website
• Profile at European Parliament website
• Profile at European Parliamentary Labour Party