Brian Simpson

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 6 February 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who was

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

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. Born in

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Simpson was educated at the West Midlands College of Education and became a teacher. He also joined the Labour Party, serving on

Merseyside County Council Merseyside County Council (MCC) was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England. MCC existed for a total of twelve years. It was established on 1 April 1974 by the Local Gov ...

from 1981 until 1986, and then on

Warrington Borough Council Warrington Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Warrington, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Warrington has had a borough council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasio ...

from 1987. Simpson was a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 1989 until 1999 representing

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilms ...

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 was the president of the European Parliaments Transport and Tourism Committee after serving as the Socialist Group Spokesperson on that committee for many years. He was also a substitute member and Labour spokesperson on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He was 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 worked as the Socialist Group shadow draftsperson 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 and 2012 he was voted Transport MEP of the year by ''Parliament Magazine''. Before being elected an MEP he worked as a PE teacher 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 ...

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 was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

"for Parliamentary and Political services."2015 New Year Honours List
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External links

Official websiteEuropean Parliament website entryOfficial website of the European Parliamentary Labour PartyOfficial website of the United Kingdom Labour Party

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Brian 1953 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 1989–1994 MEPs for England 1994–1999 MEPs for England 1999–2004 MEPs for England 2004–2009 MEPs for England 2009–2014 Officers of the Order of the British Empire Councillors in Merseyside Labour Party (UK) councillors