Bill Newton Dunn
| Bill Newton Dunn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the European Parliament for East Midlands | |
| In office 1 May 1999 – 2 July 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Nick Clegg |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Lewer |
| Member of the European Parliament for Lincolnshire | |
| In office 7 June 1979 – 9 June 1994 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 October 1941 Greywell, Hampshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Other political affiliations |
Conservative (until 2000) |
| Children | Tom Newton Dunn Daisy Newton Dunn |
| Alma mater | Marlborough College Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge INSEAD |
| Website | http://www.libdemeuro.com/ |
William "Bill" Francis Newton Dunn (born 3 October 1941 in Greywell, Hampshire) is a British politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands for the Liberal Democrats until 25 May 2014.
Early life
He attended the independent Marlborough College in Wiltshire from 1955–9, then gained a Diploma from the University of Paris (the Sorbonne) in 1960. He completed an MA in Natural Sciences (Physics and Chemistry) in 1963 at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He gained a tri-lingual MBA from the INSEAD Business School at Fontainebleau, which no doubt fuelled his interest in European matters where he studied from 1965–6. From 1963–79, he worked in United Kingdom industry.
Parliamentary career
He was a Conservative Party MEP from 1979 to 1994 for Lincolnshire. After a spell out of the Parliament, he was re-elected a Conservative MEP for the East Midlands in 1999. He defected to the Liberal Democrats in 2000 because he felt that the Conservatives were increasingly negative towards the prospect of Britain playing a leading role in Europe.
Newton Dunn was elected as a Lib Dem MEP for the first time in the European elections, 2004. He claims to have had the highest attendance record of all the UK MEPs when elected.
Newton Dunn began to use the now much-used phrase Democratic deficit in his pamphlet in the 1980s. This phrase first appeared in the manifesto of the Young European Federalists adopted at their congress in Berlin in 1977.
In 2010 he signed the Spinelli Group Manifesto in favour of a Federal Europe.
On 4 July 2012, Newton Dunn was the only British MEP to vote in favour of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Only 38 MEPs voted with Newton Dunn [1] (earning them the title "the Dirty Thirty-nine"), while 478 voted against the treaty; the biggest defeat in the history of the EU.
Newton Dunn was not re-elected as a Lib Dem MEP in the European elections, 2014.
Personal life
He is married with two children, living in Navenby and West London. His son is Tom Newton Dunn, an award-winning journalist for The Sun newspaper. His daughter is Daisy Newton Dunn, a TV producer for the BBC.
References
External links
- Bill Newton Dunn MEP official site
- Liberal Democrat MEPs
- Bill Newton Dunn profile at the European Parliament
- Bill Newton Dunn profile at the site of the Liberal Democrats
- East Midlands Liberal Democrats site for his constituency party
- Video on YouTube
Offices held
| European Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Constituency created |
Member of European Parliament for Lincolnshire 1979–1994 |
Succeeded by Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by Constituency created |
Member of European Parliament for East Midlands 1999–2014 |
Succeeded by |