Theresa Villiers
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Theresa Villiers (born 1968) in London is a British politician, who was Conservative Member of the European Parliament for the London constituency until 2005. She was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004. In the United Kingdom general election, 2005 she was elected Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet, and has stood down from the European Parliament.
Educated at Bristol University, she obtained a First Class Law degree (1990) and a BCL from Oxford University (1991). As a student she was runner-up in the 1993 World Debating Championships. After graduating she worked as a barrister and as a lecturer (1994-99) at King's College London.
Political Career
Elected to the European Parliament in 1999, Theresa served as a Member of the Committee on Legal Affairs. She was also a Member of the Delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan and EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, and for relations with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia. As an MEP her main interests were finance and financial services, the preservation of London's green belt, Cyprus, animal welfare and campaigning against the Euro and the European Constitution.
A former Deputy Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament (2001-2002) she has also served as a member of the governing board of the Conservative Party (2001-2002).
In 2003, following Sir Sydney Chapman's announcement that he would retire at the next election, Theresa was selected as the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet. Although Sir Sydney's majority at the 2001 election was only 2,701 Chipping Barnet was considered a "safe" Conservative seat, and in the General Election Ms Villiers held the seat with an increased majority of 5,960. She will now resign her seat as an MEP, which under the list system will be filled by the next candidate on the Conservatives London regional list - Syed Kamall.
Quotations
- "The European Union has been one of the greatest offenders in excluding developing countries from participating in European markets. There is simply no way that impoverished African farmers can compete with the subsidies given to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy."
- "The (European)Constitution is designed to create a country called Europe and give ever more power to Brussels at the expense of nationally elected governments. I think that's bad for democracy, bad for Britain and bad for Europe."
Theresa Villiers MEP, Conservative Party (UK)
External links
- Theresa Villers (http://www.theresavilliers.com) official site
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Theresa Villiers MP (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-9175,00.html)
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Theresa Villiers MP (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/theresa_villiers/chipping_barnet)