Julie Ward (politician)

Julie Carolyn Ward (born 7 March 1957) is a British politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West England region for the Labour Party from 2014 to 2020.

Julie Ward
Julie Ward MEP
Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
In office
22 May 2014 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byBrian Simpson
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1957-03-07) 7 March 1957 (age 67)
Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materNewcastle University
WebsiteArchived 2017-06-11 at the Wayback Machine

Career edit

Ward has a master's degree in Education and International Development from Newcastle University, graduating from an adult learning course in 2012.[1] Before being elected as an MEP, she was part of an international delegation to Belfast to discuss the role of the arts in peace processes[2] and also ran a social enterprise.[3]

In 2016 she wrote that Turkey was "becoming a fascist state".[4]

Ward organises events for One Billion Rising, campaigns against violence against women,[1] and is an opponent of Brexit.[5] In 2018 she joined in launching a campaign group, "Left against Brexit", seeking to change the Labour Party's position to supporting membership of the EU.[6] Julie is currently a member of Open Labour’s National Committee.

European Parliament edit

Ward was third on the Labour Party list for the European Parliament in the May 2014 election, and was elected with Labour taking a third seat from the Lib Dems in the North West England region. At the May 2019 election, Ward was second on the Labour party list for the North West, after Theresa Griffin, and both were elected, while the third Labour seat was lost, with the party's vote falling from 33.9to 21.9 per cent.[7]

Committee and delegations memberships edit

As of 2014, Ward was a member of one European Parliament Committee, the Committee on Culture and Education, and also of one Delegation, that on International relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. She was also a substitute member for the Committee on Regional Development, the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, and the Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, meaning that she could take the place of another socialist group member on occasions.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "About Julie Ward MEP". 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Julie Ward MEP". eurolabour.org. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  3. ^ "North West European Region". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  4. ^ Julie Ward, Julie Ward: My observations lead me to the bleak conclusion that Turkey is quite obviously becoming a fascist state[permanent dead link] at hdp.org.tr dated 21 November 2016
  5. ^ Ward, Julie (24 January 2019). "Julie Ward MEP: The creative industries – further proof Brexit is bad for the UK". LabourList. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  6. ^ Jessica Elgot, Leftwingers launch pro-EU campaign to shift Labour position on Brexit: Left Against Brexit will seek to persuade Jeremy Corbyn of case for pro-EU stance in The Guardian dated 1 June 2018
  7. ^ "vote 2014 – North West". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

External links edit