East Midlands was a constituency of the European Parliament in the United Kingdom, established in 1999 with six members to replace single-member constituencies. Between 2009 and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020 it returned five MEPs, elected using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.
Boundaries The constituency corresponded to the East Midlands region of England, comprising the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire.
History The constituency was organised as a result of the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999, replacing a number of single-member constituencies. These were Leicester, Northamptonshire and Blaby, Nottingham and Leicestershire North West, Nottinghamshire North and Chesterfield, and parts of Lincolnshire and Humberside South, Peak District, and Staffordshire East and Derby.
MEPs for former East Midlands constituencies, 1979 – 1999 Election 1979 – 1984 1984 – 1989 1989 – 1994 1994 – 1999 Derbyshire (1979–1994) Tom SpencerConservative Geoff HoonLabour Seat abolished Leicester Frederick TuckmanConservative Mel ReadLabour Susan WaddingtonLabour Lincolnshire (1979–1994)Lincolnshire and Humberside South (1994–1999) Bill Newton DunnConservative Veronica HardstaffLabour Northamptonshire (1979–1994)Northamptonshire and Blaby (1994–1999) Anthony SimpsonConservative Angela BillinghamLabour Nottingham (1979–1994)Nottingham and Leicestershire North West (1994–1999) Michael GallagherLabour (1979–1984)SDP (1984) Michael KilbyConservative Ken CoatesLabour Mel ReadLabour Nottinghamshire North and Chesterfield (1994–1999) Seat not established Ken CoatesLabour Peak District (1994–1999) Seat not established Arlene McCarthyLabour Staffordshire East and Derby (1994–1999) Staffordshire East in West Midlands Phillip WhiteheadLabour
Returned members MEPs for the East Midlands, 1999 onwards Election MEPParty Phillip WhiteheadDied 31 December 2005Labour Glenis WillmottAppointed on 1 January 2006 to replace Phillip WhiteheadLabourRory PalmerLabour MEPParty Mel ReadLabour Derek ClarkUKIP Margot ParkerUKIP (2014–19)Brexit Party (2019) Annunziata Rees-MoggBrexit Party (2019)Independent (2019–20) Conservative (2020–21) MEPParty Roger HelmerConservative (1999–2012)UKIP (2012–2017) Jonathan BullockUKIP (2017–2018) Independent (2018) Brexit Party (2019–21) MEPParty Chris Heaton-HarrisConservative Emma McClarkinConservative Matthew PattenBrexit Party MEPParty Bill Newton DunnConservative (1999–2000)Liberal Democrat (2000–2014)Andrew LewerConservative Rupert MatthewsConservative Bill Newton DunnLiberal Democrat MEPParty Nick CleggLiberal Democrat Robert Kilroy-SilkUKIP (2004)Veritas (2004–05) Seat abolished Notes: 1 Roger Helmer announced on 12 October 2011 his intention to stand down from the European Parliament. After uncertainty whether his place would be taken by the next person on the Conservative Party's list for the East Midlands region, he defected to UKIP and completed his term as MEP.'Disillusioned' Tory MEP Roger Helmer to stand down, BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2011Lincolnshire MEP Roger Helmer to quit his seat ThisisLincolnshire
Complaint against Kilroy-Silk In August 2005, four of the MEPs for the region (Clark, Heaton-Harris, Helmer and Whitehead) sent a joint letter to President of the European Parliament Josep Borrell to complain of Kilroy-Silk: "He seems to have done little or no work as a constituency MEP for the East Midlands. This leaves five MEPs to do the work of six and the electorate have been short-changed". They complained that Kilroy-Silk was not "fulfilling the pledge he made on becoming an MEP, to serve the electorate of his region" and to call for him to "either do the job for which he is paid, or get out and leave it to those who can."Stares, Justin. Kilroy-Silk does 'little or no work' and should quit, say MEPs, The Telegraph, 13 August 2005. Quote: "A cross-party coalition has called for Robert Kilroy-Silk to quit the European Parliament on the grounds that he seldom attends and does "little or no work" for his East Midlands constituency. [...] His four regional colleagues – Christopher Heaton-Harris (Conservative), Roger Helmer (Conservative), Phillip Whitehead (Labour) and Derek Clark (Ukip) – said they "deplore" Mr Kilroy-Silk's non-attendance.
The parliament has no power to remove Mr Kilroy-Silk, who is understood to have attended the minimum number of plenary sessions required to be eligible for his parliamentary allowances. Such a complaint was unprecedented. Kilroy-Silk refused to comment on it. The European Parliament does not have any power to expel a member, and Borrell took no action.
Election results
Elected candidates are shown in bold. Brackets indicate the number of votes per seat won and order MEPs were elected.
2019
2014
2009
2004
1999
References