Judith Ann Bunting is a television producer and politician who served as a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

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 the

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. In 2014, she was chosen by the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

to be one of their 175 Faces of Chemistry.

Early life

She had a sister, Janette. They grew up in

Dogsthorpe Dogsthorpe is a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the ward at the 2021 Census was 11,500. Cambridgeshire Fire an ...

, Peterborough. Bunting attended

Peterborough County Grammar School for Girls Peterborough ( ) is a cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. As of the 2021 census, Peterborough had a population of 192,178, whi ...

, then

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

, where she obtained a Master's Degree in Natural Sciences (Chemistry). Her father taught Mechanical Engineering at

Peterborough Regional College Peterborough College, established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College, is a major further education college in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. History Engineering firms Peter Brotherhood and Baker Perkins relocated to Pete ...

Career

Television

Bunting has been a producer of educational and science-based documentary television since the 1990s. Her early producing credits include the BBC series ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First broadcast on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorrow's World' ...

'', ''Teen Species'', ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

'' and

Robert Winston Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston (born 15 July 1940) is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and Labour peer. Early life Robert Winston was born in London to Laurence Winston and Ruth Winston-Fox, ...

s ''The Secret Life of Twins'' and ''Superhuman''. She produced three series of the series '' Body Hits'' and the

RTS RTS may refer to: Medicine * Rape trauma syndrome, the psychological trauma experienced by a rape victim * Revised Trauma Score, a system to evaluate injuries secondary to violent trauma * Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome, a condition characterized by ...

Award-winning ''Breast Cancer - the Operation'' for

BBC3 BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

. In 2007, she was series producer for the BBC Wales series, ''

The Museum A museum is a building or institution dedicated to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, cultural or artistic value. Museum may also refer to: Arts, entertainmen ...

''. She followed this by executive producing '' Rocket Science'' for BBC2 and ''Headshrinkers of the Amazon'' for the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

. Her 2009 documentary for the National Geographic Channel, ''The Neanderthal Code'' was nominated for a

Grierson Award Grierson: The British Documentary Awards, commonly known as The Grierson Awards, are awards bestowed by The Grierson Trust to recognise innovative and exciting documentary films, in honour of the pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John ...

for Best Science Documentary. Since 2013, Bunting has been series producer for production company Remark! on over 30 episodes of ''Magic Hands'', a programme for

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

featuring poetry and Shakespeare for children translated entirely into

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the Deafness in the United Kingdom, deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a f ...

, in which the presenters are all profoundly deaf.

Politics

In the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

UK General Elections, Bunting stood as the

candidate for Newbury and both times coming second to

Richard Benyon Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon, (born 21 October 1960), is a British politician who has served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household since 4 November 2024. He previously was Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy from ...

. She has consistently pursued a broader engagement with science in politics and education. In September 2017, Bunting ruled out a third run as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Newbury to "focus on her career as a television producer". Bunting was elected as a Liberal Democrat MEP for the

in the 2019 European Elections. She took the role of Vice President of th
European Union's Delegation for relations with the Korean Peninsula
(DKOR), opening negotiations for a three way cultural tour with the North Korean Embassy in London. She was the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for

Education and Culture Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

in Europe, and also sat on the Industry, Research and Energy committee.

Personal life

She lives in

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in West Berkshire, England, in the valley of the River Kennet. It is south of Oxford, north of Winchester, southeast of Swindon and west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is also where West Berkshire Council is hea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunting, Judith Living people category:1960 births Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge British television producers BBC television producers British women television producers Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates Liberal Democrats (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 2019–2020 People from Newbury, Berkshire Politicians from Peterborough 21st-century women MEPs for England