Alexandra Louise Rosenfield Phillips (born 9 July 1985) is a British politician. She served as a

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England that are in the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, top level category for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of england, ...

from 2019 to 2020. She was Mayor of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

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.

Early life and local political career

Phillips was born on 9 July 1985 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, to Roger Phillips and Margaret Rosenfield. She is of Jewish heritage. Her father worked as a presenter for

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

for 42 years before retiring in 2020. Her younger sister, Ellie Phillips, works as a television presenter and journalist. Brought up in Liverpool, Phillips was initially a Labour Party activist with her mother, joining the party at the age of 16. In 2003 she resigned from Labour and joined the

as a result of the then Labour government's decision to invade Iraq. She holds a bachelor's degree in French Studies from the

University of London Institute in Paris The University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP; ) is a central academic body of the University of London located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is the only British university institute in continental Europe. History The institute wa ...

and a PGCE from the

UCL Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's University College London#Facultie ...

. Phillips moved to

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

in 2008. She was elected to represent the Goldsmid ward on

Brighton and Hove City Council Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority for Brighton and Hove, a local government district with city status in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also per ...

in a 2009 by-election, and re-elected in 2011. In subsequent council elections she contested the Regency ward, winning a seat in both 2015 and 2019. She became Brighton's youngest mayor in 2019 after being selected for the role by her fellow councillors. She finished her term as mayor in May 2020. Outside of her council roles, she has worked as the policy lead at the

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and

sexual health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive healt ...

charity,

Terrence Higgins Trust Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...

, and as a French and German language

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

teacher in Croydon, London, and later Hampshire. In 2022, Phillips announced that she and her husband were stepping down as councillors ahead of the May 2023 elections.

European Parliament

In the 2014 European parliamentary election, Phillips stood as a candidate in the

constituency. She was second on her party's list after Keith Taylor (Green Party MEP since 2010). In the election, the Green Party won just one seat in South East England which therefore went to Taylor as their first-placed candidate. Phillips worked as Senior Campaigns Coordinator for Green Party MP

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who was the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2003 to 2006, 2007 to 2012, and 2016 to 2018. She was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parli ...

's successful general election campaigns in 2010 and 2015. She supported the United Kingdom remaining within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) in the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

. 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. In the same constituency, another candidate called Alexandra Phillips also stood as a candidate but for the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

. In the election, both were elected as MEPs. In the European Parliament, she was a member of the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion ...

, and part of the delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

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.

Personal life

Phillips is married to Tom Druitt, a fellow Green Party

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. They have two children.

References

External links

Councillor Alex Phillips
at Brighton and Hove City Council
Alex Phillips
at South East Greens
MEP
at European Parliament {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Alexandra 1985 births Living people Green Party of England and Wales MEPs MEPs for England 2019–2020 21st-century women MEPs for England Councillors in East Sussex Green Party of England and Wales councillors Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates Jewish British politicians Labour Party (UK) people Mayors of places in East Sussex Politicians from Liverpool Women councillors in England