Glass
19th August 2011, 11:09 AM
I was thinking I haven't heard anything from that English guy who goes to Brussels and tells them all off. Can't recall his name so I thought I'd wiki up his name.
Ended up at the MEP wiki page where they had an interesting list of past and current MEPs.
I think you guys will know more than a few of these names or at least where they are from and with that possibly get an idea of what they have been/are upto.
Diversity
The proportion of MEPs elected in 2009 who were female was about 34 percent (in2004 it was 30 percent and back in 1979 it was just 16.5 percent), a higher percentage than most national parliaments. This figure varies considerably among the various national delegations, however. Of UK members, for instance, approaching half of the Labour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_%28UK%29) MEPs are female. The figure for the Parliament elected in 2009 is 35 percent.
The oldest member is Giovanni Berlinguer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Berlinguer), born in 1924; the former communist was present at the signing of the Treaty of Rome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Rome) in 1957. The youngest is Amelia Andersdotter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Andersdotter), born in 1987, who joined the parliament in 2009.
There are invariably numerous figures in the Parliament who are already well known for a wide variety of other reasons. For example, in the 2004-2009 Parliament:
Vladimír Remek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladim%C3%ADr_Remek), the first man in space not from the United States or the Soviet Union.
Umberto Guidoni (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Guidoni), first European astronaut on board the International Space Station.
Jean-Marie Le Pen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Le_Pen), far-right French politician, came second in the 2002 French presidential election (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2002).
Michel Rocard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Rocard), former Prime Minister of France (1988-1991) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_France).
Alessandra Mussolini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandra_Mussolini), granddaughter of Italian fascist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism) World War II dictator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duce) Benito Mussolini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini).
Michael Cashman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cashman), former British actor (EastEnders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EastEnders)) and gay rights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_rights) campaigner.
Peter Šťastný (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_%C5%A0%C5%A5astn%C3%BD), Slovak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia) professional ice hockey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey) player.
Giovanni Rivera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Rivera), a former Italian football (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer) player and European Footballer of the Year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Footballer_of_the_Year) in 1969.
László Tőkés (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_T%C5%91k%C3%A9s), an ethnic Hungarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people) pastor in Romania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania) who played an important role in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989)
Theodor Stolojan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Stolojan), former Prime Minister of Romania
Daniel Cohn-Bendit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Cohn-Bendit), 1968 French student leader
Krzysztof Hołowczyc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Ho%C5%82owczyc), Polish Rally driver
Jean-Luc Dehaene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Dehaene), former Prime Minister of Belgium
Vytautas Landsbergis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vytautas_Landsbergis), former leader of the independence movement and President of Lithuania
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_Nyrup_Rasmussen), former Prime Minister of Denmark
Jerzy Buzek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Buzek), former Prime Minister of Poland
Guntars Krasts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guntars_Krasts), former Prime Minister of Latvia
Alojz Peterle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alojz_Peterle), former Prime Minister of Slovenia
Anneli Jäätteenmäki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneli_J%C3%A4%C3%A4tteenm%C3%A4ki), former Prime Minister of Finland
Philippe Morillon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Morillon), former Commander of UNPROFOR peace keeping force in Bosnia
Notable former members:
Maurice Duverger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Duverger), French political scientist
Otto von Habsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Habsburg), former head of the Habsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habsburg) dynasty
Reinhold Messner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Messner), a renowned Italian mountaineer and explorer from South Tyrol
Ian Paisley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Paisley), leading politician of Northern Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland), a member from 1979 to 2004 with a "triple mandate" as MEP, MP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom), and MLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_Northern_Ireland_Assembly)
John Hume (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hume), another leading Northern Irish politician and Nobel Peace Prize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize) laureate, similarly having held a "triple mandate"
Jacques Delors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Delors), later President of the Commission
Massimo D'Alema (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_D%27Alema), former Prime Minister of Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Italy)
Dana Rosemary Scallon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Rosemary_Scallon), 1970 Eurovision Song Contest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest) winner
Lilli Gruber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilli_Gruber), high-profile Italian television journalist
Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt), former German Chancellor
John Prescott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prescott), later Deputy Prime Minister of the UK
Geoff Hoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Hoon), later Transport Secretary (and former Defence Secretary during Iraq war) of the UK
Gijs de Vries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gijs_de_Vries), former European Anti-Terrorism Coordinator
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9ry_Giscard_d%27Estaing), former President of France
Jacques Chirac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Chirac), later President of France
François Mitterrand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand), later President of France
Giulio Andreotti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_Andreotti), former Prime Minister of Italy
Silvio Berlusconi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi), later Prime Minister of Italy
Giorgio Napolitano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Napolitano), later President of Italy
Mário Soares (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1rio_Soares), former Prime Minister and President of Portugal
Wilfried Martens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfried_Martens) and Leo Tindemans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tindemans), former Prime Ministers of Belgium
Emilio Colombo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Colombo), former Prime Minister of Italy
Laurent Fabius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Fabius), former Prime Minister of France
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toomas_Hendrik_Ilves), later President of Estonia
Ana Palacio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Palacio), later Foreign Minister of Spain
Nick Clegg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Clegg), later leader of the UK Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister of the UK
Joseph Muscat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Muscat), later leader of the Malta Labour Party
Ari Vatanen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Vatanen), Champion Rally driver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_%28sports%29), elected to second term by a French constituency, rather than his native Finland. In 2009 elections was again candidate in Finland, but did not win a seat.
Robert Kilroy-Silk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kilroy-Silk), former chat show host maverick who was fired from the BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC).
MEP's @ Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_the_European_Parliament#Individual_membe rs)
Oh and I'm still none the wiser as to what his name is.
And no sooner said than done and his name is Nigel Farage.
Ended up at the MEP wiki page where they had an interesting list of past and current MEPs.
I think you guys will know more than a few of these names or at least where they are from and with that possibly get an idea of what they have been/are upto.
Diversity
The proportion of MEPs elected in 2009 who were female was about 34 percent (in2004 it was 30 percent and back in 1979 it was just 16.5 percent), a higher percentage than most national parliaments. This figure varies considerably among the various national delegations, however. Of UK members, for instance, approaching half of the Labour (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Party_%28UK%29) MEPs are female. The figure for the Parliament elected in 2009 is 35 percent.
The oldest member is Giovanni Berlinguer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Berlinguer), born in 1924; the former communist was present at the signing of the Treaty of Rome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Rome) in 1957. The youngest is Amelia Andersdotter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Andersdotter), born in 1987, who joined the parliament in 2009.
There are invariably numerous figures in the Parliament who are already well known for a wide variety of other reasons. For example, in the 2004-2009 Parliament:
Vladimír Remek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladim%C3%ADr_Remek), the first man in space not from the United States or the Soviet Union.
Umberto Guidoni (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Guidoni), first European astronaut on board the International Space Station.
Jean-Marie Le Pen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Le_Pen), far-right French politician, came second in the 2002 French presidential election (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2002).
Michel Rocard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Rocard), former Prime Minister of France (1988-1991) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_France).
Alessandra Mussolini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandra_Mussolini), granddaughter of Italian fascist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism) World War II dictator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duce) Benito Mussolini (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini).
Michael Cashman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cashman), former British actor (EastEnders (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EastEnders)) and gay rights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_rights) campaigner.
Peter Šťastný (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_%C5%A0%C5%A5astn%C3%BD), Slovak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia) professional ice hockey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey) player.
Giovanni Rivera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Rivera), a former Italian football (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer) player and European Footballer of the Year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Footballer_of_the_Year) in 1969.
László Tőkés (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_T%C5%91k%C3%A9s), an ethnic Hungarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_people) pastor in Romania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania) who played an important role in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989)
Theodor Stolojan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodor_Stolojan), former Prime Minister of Romania
Daniel Cohn-Bendit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Cohn-Bendit), 1968 French student leader
Krzysztof Hołowczyc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krzysztof_Ho%C5%82owczyc), Polish Rally driver
Jean-Luc Dehaene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Dehaene), former Prime Minister of Belgium
Vytautas Landsbergis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vytautas_Landsbergis), former leader of the independence movement and President of Lithuania
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poul_Nyrup_Rasmussen), former Prime Minister of Denmark
Jerzy Buzek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Buzek), former Prime Minister of Poland
Guntars Krasts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guntars_Krasts), former Prime Minister of Latvia
Alojz Peterle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alojz_Peterle), former Prime Minister of Slovenia
Anneli Jäätteenmäki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anneli_J%C3%A4%C3%A4tteenm%C3%A4ki), former Prime Minister of Finland
Philippe Morillon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Morillon), former Commander of UNPROFOR peace keeping force in Bosnia
Notable former members:
Maurice Duverger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Duverger), French political scientist
Otto von Habsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Habsburg), former head of the Habsburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habsburg) dynasty
Reinhold Messner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Messner), a renowned Italian mountaineer and explorer from South Tyrol
Ian Paisley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Paisley), leading politician of Northern Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland), a member from 1979 to 2004 with a "triple mandate" as MEP, MP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom), and MLA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Members_of_the_Northern_Ireland_Assembly)
John Hume (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hume), another leading Northern Irish politician and Nobel Peace Prize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize) laureate, similarly having held a "triple mandate"
Jacques Delors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Delors), later President of the Commission
Massimo D'Alema (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_D%27Alema), former Prime Minister of Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Italy)
Dana Rosemary Scallon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Rosemary_Scallon), 1970 Eurovision Song Contest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest) winner
Lilli Gruber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilli_Gruber), high-profile Italian television journalist
Willy Brandt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willy_Brandt), former German Chancellor
John Prescott (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prescott), later Deputy Prime Minister of the UK
Geoff Hoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Hoon), later Transport Secretary (and former Defence Secretary during Iraq war) of the UK
Gijs de Vries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gijs_de_Vries), former European Anti-Terrorism Coordinator
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9ry_Giscard_d%27Estaing), former President of France
Jacques Chirac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Chirac), later President of France
François Mitterrand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Mitterrand), later President of France
Giulio Andreotti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_Andreotti), former Prime Minister of Italy
Silvio Berlusconi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi), later Prime Minister of Italy
Giorgio Napolitano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgio_Napolitano), later President of Italy
Mário Soares (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1rio_Soares), former Prime Minister and President of Portugal
Wilfried Martens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfried_Martens) and Leo Tindemans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tindemans), former Prime Ministers of Belgium
Emilio Colombo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Colombo), former Prime Minister of Italy
Laurent Fabius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent_Fabius), former Prime Minister of France
Toomas Hendrik Ilves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toomas_Hendrik_Ilves), later President of Estonia
Ana Palacio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Palacio), later Foreign Minister of Spain
Nick Clegg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Clegg), later leader of the UK Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister of the UK
Joseph Muscat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Muscat), later leader of the Malta Labour Party
Ari Vatanen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ari_Vatanen), Champion Rally driver (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rally_%28sports%29), elected to second term by a French constituency, rather than his native Finland. In 2009 elections was again candidate in Finland, but did not win a seat.
Robert Kilroy-Silk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kilroy-Silk), former chat show host maverick who was fired from the BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC).
MEP's @ Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_the_European_Parliament#Individual_membe rs)
Oh and I'm still none the wiser as to what his name is.
And no sooner said than done and his name is Nigel Farage.