Chris Heaton-Harris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chris Heaton-Harris MEP | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1999 |
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| Born | 28 November 1967  Epsom, Surrey, England |
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| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Wolverhampton Polytechnic |
| Website | http://www.heatonharris.org.uk/ |
Christopher Chris Heaton-Harris (born November 28, 1967 in Epsom, Surrey) is a British politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region for the Conservative Party.
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[edit] Early life and education
Born in November 1967, Mr Heaton-Harris attended the Tiffin Grammar School for Boys in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey before moving to Wolverhampton Polytechnic.
He went to work in Covent Garden (Nine Elms) fruit and vegetable wholesale market in the family business, before taking over from his father as Chairman of What4 Ltd, until his election to the European Parliament.
[edit] Political career
[edit] Attempts to become UK MP
He fought Leicester South, a safe Labour seat, at the UK 1997 general election. He was the Conservative party's candidate for that seat in the 2004 Leicester South by-election and came third.
[edit] European Parliament
He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999 as a Conservative Party MEP, and then re-elected in 2004.
Heaton-Harris sits on the Internal Market Committee, responsible for "coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of the internal market and of the customs union" as well as the Central America Delegation and the Bulgaria Delegation.
He is a founding member of the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform (CPR), a group of cross-national and cross-party MEPs who campaign for reforms within the parliament. Its manifesto includes creating one seat for the parliament - in Brussels, cleaning up MEPs expenses system, and improving debate within the parliament.
Heaton-Harris was responsible for bringing the case of Marta Andreasen, the European Commission's Chief Accountant, to public attention back in August 2002 and has been involved in fighting fraud, mismanagement and waste within the European Commission and other European Institutions.
He was the Chief Whip for the Conservatives in the European Parliament from 2001 to March 2004.
Heaton-Harris is the current President of the Sports Intergroup, a group of approximately 40 MEPs who have an interest in sport and sporting issues.
From May 2006 he sought support within the EU legislature for a controversial letter to FIFA demanding that the Iranian national team be thrown out of the World Cup 2006, because of the Iranian President's comments about the Holocaust being a myth.
[edit] Forthcoming UK general election
He has secured a place on the 'A-List' of Conservative Party candidates ahead of the next general election [1] and was selected as candidate for the safe Conservative seat of Daventry in June 2006.
[edit] Personal life
He is married with two children and is a Grade 5 qualified soccer referee.
