The European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP) was the

parliamentary party A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

of the British Labour Party in 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 ...

. The EPLP was part of the pan-European Group of

Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the Political groups of the European Parliament, political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and ...

(S&D), (with MEPs from sister parties such as the French

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, the German

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

, the Swedish

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

and Dutch Labour Party), and which is the parliamentary wing of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

(PES), to which Labour was (and remains) affiliated. Like other national delegations, the EPLP had its own leadership and spokespeople representing Labour in Brussels and Strasbourg (and the EPLP in the UK). Several Labour MEPs went on to careers in Westminster, including

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (31 May 1938 – 20 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the ...

as Deputy Prime Minister,

Geoff Hoon Geoffrey William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary, Transport Secretary, Leader ...

as Minister for Europe and subsequently Defence Secretary,

Ann Clwyd Ann Clwyd Roberts ( , ; ; 21 March 1937 – 21 July 2023) was a Welsh Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cynon Valley for 35 years, from 1984 until 2019. Although she had intended to stand down in 2015, she was re-el ...

as Chair of the

Parliamentary Labour Party The Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in the British House of Commons. The group comprises the Labour members of parliament as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes ...

Joyce Quin Joyce Gwendolen Quin, Baroness Quin, (born 26 November 1944), is a British Labour Party politician. She was a member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1989, and served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Gateshead East and Washington ...

and

Glenys Kinnock Glenys Elizabeth Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead, (; 7 July 1944 – 3 December 2023), was a British politician and teacher who served as Minister of State for Europe from June to October 2009 and Minister of State for Africa and the U ...

, both as Ministers for Europe, and

Richard Caborn Richard George Caborn (born 6 October 1943) is a British politician who served as Minister of Sport from 2001 to 2007 and later as the prime minister's ambassador for England's 2018 FIFA World Cup bid. He previously served as a junior ministe ...

as Minister for Sport. The EPLP ceased to exist after the UK left the European Union in January 2020. At the time of dissolution, Labour had 10 Members of the European Parliament.

Leader

The leader of the EPLP had a seat on the Labour Party National Executive Committee and attended shadow cabinet meetings.

List of Leaders of the European Parliamentary Labour Party

Positions in the European Parliament and related bodies

Labour figures held, over the years of UK membership, a number of key positions in the EU, including many held by Labour MEPs in the

. These included: *1 leader of the S&D Group

Pauline Green Dame Pauline Green, (born 8 December 1948) is a former Labour and Co-operative Member of the European Parliament and former Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists (PES). As leader of the Parliamentary Group of t ...

*4 Vice-presidents of the Parliament, including the longest serving one ever, David Martin *12 Chairs of Parliamentary committees, including the longest serving Ken Collins *The European Parliament's rapporteurs on the Maastricht Treaty, the Amsterdam Treaty, the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty David Martin and

Richard Corbett Richard Graham Corbett CBE (born 6 January 1955) is a former British politician who served as the final Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party (EPLP), from 2017 to 2020. He was for decades one of the leading political and academ ...

*The draftsman of the revised Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament

*2 Secretaries General of the Group

Julian Priestley Sir Julian Gordon Priestley (26 May 1950 – 22 April 2017) was an English civil-servant who served as Secretary-General of the European Parliament 1997–2007. He was the second President of the Young European Federalists 1974–1976. Biograp ...

and

David Harley David Harley is a former IT security researcher, author/editor and consultant living in the United Kingdom, known for his books on and research into malware, Mac security, anti-malware product testing and management of email abuse. Career Aft ...

*1 Secretary General of the Parliament

*1 President of the PES

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until ...

*1 President of the Commission

Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...

*1 EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Cathy Ashton EPLP members were frequently elected as the S&D Group's Committee Co-ordinators, acting as spokespeople for the Group in their respective parliamentary committees and on the subjects they covered. {{UK Labour Party 2020 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Organisation of the Labour Party (UK) Party of European Socialists