Christopher Beazley (born 5 September 1952) is a British politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been 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 Steel Commu ...

(MEP) from 1984 to 1994 and again from 1999 to 2009. He was member of the Conservative Party until 2019, when he joined the Liberal Democrats.

Background

Beazley is the son of

Peter Beazley Peter George Beazley (9 June 1922 – 23 December 2004) was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician who worked for Imperial Chemical Industries for over thirty years. He went on to serve for fifteen years as a Member of the Eu ...

, and earned a BA in History at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

in 1974. From 1974 to 1976, he worked at the Bank of England, then as a teacher 1976–1983 and as a research officer at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

1983–1984. He has since been a consultant and writer on European affairs.

Political career

Beazley was elected at the

1984 European Parliament election Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

as the MEP for Cornwall and Plymouth, serving alongside his father

, who was the MEP for Bedfordshire South. He was re-elected in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

, but when his constituency was abolished at the

1994 European Parliament election The 1994 European Parliamentary election was a European election held across the 12 European Union member states in June 1994. This election saw the merge of the European People's Party and European Democrats, an increase in the overall number ...

, he was defeated in the new Cornwall and West Plymouth constituency by the Liberal Democrat candidate Robin Teverson. He returned to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the 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 adop ...

at the 1999 European election 1999 to 2009, when the single-member constituencies were replaced by regional constituencies using a party list form of election. He was elected as an MEP for the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

, and re-elected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He has been the Conservative spokesman on Culture and Education, Regional Development, Home Affairs and Justice, and Constitutional Affairs. A centrist conservative, he has been vice-chairman of the Conservative Group for Europe, and has criticised the UK Conservative Party of leaving the

European People's Party group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...

. A few months before he left the European Parliament in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, he became a full member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Fo ...

, despite the UK Conservative Party's plans to withdraw from their parliament group, saying, "I cannot watch and say nothing while the Tories walk away from their allies, friends and colleagues in Europe."

Positions

Beazley is a signatory of the

Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism was a declaration which was initiated by the Czech government and signed on 3 June 2008 by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, among them former ...

Quote

* ''"Europe is no more divided, but we are still divided by our experience."''
–Christopher Beazley, Prague, June 2008, in his speech at the conference "Conscience of Europe and Communism" ''(Svědomí Evropy a komunismus)'' closing with the Prague Declaration ''(Pražská deklarace)''

Respekt ''Respekt'' is a Czech weekly newsmagazine published in Prague, the Czech Republic, reporting on domestic and foreign political and economic issues, as well as on science and culture. History and profile ''Respekt'' was founded very ...

, 4 June 200
Odsoudit komunismus jako nacismus
/ref>

References

External links

Profile on European Parliament website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beazley, Christopher 1952 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MEPs People from Bexhill-on-Sea MEPs for England 1984–1989 MEPs for England 1989–1994 MEPs for England 1999–2004 MEPs for England 2004–2009 Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class Alumni of the University of Bristol Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians