Meet the Liberal Democrat Team
The Liberal Democrat Team for Europe. Left-right: Nicola Davies, Lorely Burt, Martin Turner, Paul Tilsley, Liz Lynne, Phil Bennion, Mike Dixon
The Liberal Democrat team for Europe are:
1. Liz Lynne
Liz Lynne has been MEP for the West Midlands since 1999, and before that was a Westminster MP. She is particularly interested in employment legislation and social affairs, and is ELDR Group spokesperson on Health & Safety issues. She was rapporteur of the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003, and drafted the Parliament's report supporting a UN Convention on Disabled People's Rights earlier that year.
As MEP she has helped make it illegal to discriminate at work on the basis of age, made EU legislation more practical, campaigned against airport expansion in the West Midlands as well as campaigning against the French ban on British beef, which hit farmers in the West Midlands particularly hard. She hit the headlines when she carried Herefordshire beef through French Customs at Strasbourg Airport.
2. Paul Tilsley
 |
Paul Tilsley has represented Birmingham at various levels since first being elected a councillor in 1968. He became the first Liberal/Lib Dem Lord Mayor of Birmingham for 70 years in 1993. Paul is married with three children. As well as his work as a councillor in Birmingham Yardley he also is a Board Member for Advantage West Midlands and a Member of the European funds Programme Monitoring Committee for the West Midlands. |
3. Phil Bennion
 |
Phil is a farmer and also a Coucillor in Staffordshire. He has a strong campaigning track record having won his District and County Council seats from the Tories with swings of over 20%. He doubled the Libdem vote in Lichfield in the 1997 General Election and was also on the Euro List in the West Midlands in 1999. He is very knowledgeable on argricultural issues especially CAP Reform, indeed he has lobbied politicians and civil servants in Brussels and Westminster on behalf of the NFU. |
4. Martin Turner
 |
Aged 36, Martin turner is Head of Communications for Walsall Primary Care Trust. He has previously worked as European Communications Manager for Lucas Automotive (TRW), Executive Officer for West Midlands Arts and Communcations Coordinator for Operation Mobilisation in Belguim. He studied at Oxford University and currently lives in Birmingham with his wife Marjolein. He is also chair of Liberal Democrat Christian Forum. |
5. Nicola Davies
 |
Nicola Davies lives in Warwick and is Local Government Affairs Manager for the telecommunications industry. Born in Shropshire she has lived in Staffordshire and Birmingham. She is a former parliamentary research at Westminster and A-level politics and philosophy teacher. |
6. Lorely Burt
 |
After working in the Prison Service and in personnel management Lorely Burt created her own award-winning training company which became the market leader in the field of licensed retail training. Recently Lorely has added to her own professional development by becoming a Master of Business Administration. She currently runs a small marketing company and consultancy. She is married to Councillor Richard Burt and has a daughter, Emma and a step-son, James. |
7. Mike Dixon
 |
Mike is 47 years old. Originating from Nottingham, after finishing Art College he moved extensively around Britain with work commitments and finally settled in Kidderminster with his family nearly 20 years ago, Mike has a varied background in Sales, Training, Catering and Manufacturing Management. But now works full time in politics as both Liaison Officer for an MEP and Constituency Organiser. His main areas of interest are in Policing and Crime, Mike being jointly responsible for writing Lib Dem Policy on the subject. Mike also has a keen interest in Defence and Foreign Affairs. |
The more votes we get, the bigger the team you elect!
