Glyn Ford (born 28 January 1950 in Gloucester) was a member of the European Parliament (1984–2009) initially for Greater Manchester East, until 1999 and then South West England for the Labour Party and Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party.[1]
Before being elected he worked at the University of Manchester in the Department of Science and Technology Policy as a Senior Research Fellow and was a local councillor in the Greater Manchester borough of Tameside where he was the Chair of the Environmental Health and Education Committees. Ford has two children Elise born in 1981 and Alessandro born in 1996.
Ford's three areas of interest are Research and Development, Racism and East Asia is an expert on Asia. Ford was for 15 years a member of the EP's 'Research' Committee and was in the Guest Editor for 'Science and Public Policy' Special Issue on 'Science and Technology in Europe'and the author, with Chris Niblett and Lindsay Walker of 'The Future for Ocean Technology' (Frances Pinter,1987).
Ford was Chair if the EP's Committee of Inquiry into 'The Growth of Racism and Fascism in Europe' (1984–86) and 'rapporteur' for a second EP Committee of Inquiry into 'Racism and Xenophobia'. He served as the EP's representative on the Council of Ministers Consultative Commission on Racism and Xenophobia (1994–99). He is National Treasurer of the Anti-Nazi League and author of 'Fascist Europe' (Pluto, 1992).
While at Manchester University Ford was a 'Mombusho' Visiting Professor at Tokyo University. He served throughout his time in the EP as a member of the Japan Delegation and as a member of the Korean Peninsula Delegation from its formation in 2004, He was the EU's Chief Election Observer in Indonesia in 2004 and Aceh 2006-7. In 2008 he published, 'North Korea on the Brink: Struggle for Survival' (Pluto)which has been subsequently been published in Japanese and Korean. He writes for 'The Japan Times'.
Ford was Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party 1989-1993 and Deputy Leader of the Socialist Group. He published with Glenys Kinnock and Arlene McCarthy 'Changing States; A Labour Agenda for Europe' (Mandarin, 1996). He is a regular contributor to 'Tribune'.
Glyn Ford has said he will campaign for Gibraltar to have its own seat in the European Parliament, rather than only having representation through the South West England constituency.[2][3]
Ford lost his seat in the European Parliament at the elections in June 2009. The Labour Party gained 118,716 votes in the South West region (7.61%), and was pushed into fifth place there, which was insufficient to win a seat.[4]