Richard Corbett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party | |
| In office 25 October 2017 – 31 January 2020 | |
| Deputy | Seb Dance |
| General Secretary | Stephen Pearse |
| Chair | Theresa Griffin |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Glenis Willmott |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 31 January 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Brons |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| In office 20 July 1999 – 13 July 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Brons |
| Member of the European Parliament for Merseyside West | |
| In office 23 December 1996 – 19 July 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Kenneth Stewart |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Graham Corbett 6 January 1955 Southport, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Education | Trinity College, Oxford University of Hull |
| Website | Official website |
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 academic participants in the debates over British membership of the EU and of reforming the EU.
He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Merseyside West from 1996 to 1999 (under the system that predated the proportional representation regional system) and then for Yorkshire and the Humber from 1999 to 2009, when he lost his seat, and again from 2014 to 2020. As Labour Leader in the European Parliament, he attended Shadow Cabinet meetings and was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, where he played a key role in Labour's decision to back a second referendum on Brexit once the actual terms of the Brexit deal were known.[1]
Between January 2010 and February 2014, Corbett was an advisor to the first full-time and long-term President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. In this capacity, and as a frequent writer and commentator on European affairs, he was voted by a panel of retired diplomats, journalists, academics and think-tankers on 14 November 2012 as the fourth most influential Briton on EU policy, ahead of the Prime Minister.[2]
In 2003, Corbett became the first MEP to write a regular personal blog, and in 2015 he became the first British politician to develop and release a phone app.[3]
- ^ https://ukandeu.ac.uk/brexit-witness-archive/richard-corbett/ [bare URL]
- ^ organised by the European Media Network EurActiv, see http://EurActiv.com/UK40
- ^ "Many appy returns (Richard Corbett)". Retrieved 22 April 2016.