About Linda

Linda McAvan was first elected as an MEP in a 1998 by-election to represent the Yorkshire South seat for Labour. Under the new proportional representation system she headed Labour’s regional list for Yorkshire and the Humber and was elected in 1999, 2004 and again in 2009. Linda represents her home region as the only Labour Member of Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber.

As a Labour MEP, Linda sits in the Socialist and Democrat (S&D) Group in the European Parliament, the second largest political group.  Linda is spokesperson for the S&D Group on the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. She has a special interest in climate change and leads for her group on issues relating to the European Emissions Trading System. Linda also works on EU laws on pharmaceuticals and was Parliament’s rapporteur on pharmcovigilance (drug safety) in 2010. Linda is co-chair of the MEP Heart Group and is very active on issues relating to neurological disorders. Back in the region, Linda has worked to ensure that Yorkshire and the Humber is leading the UK in tackling climate change with its ambitious plans for cleaning up coal fired power stations and heavy industry.  

Linda’s second committee in the European Parliament is the Development Committee. She has a passion for promoting Fair Trade and is the founder and chair of the European Parliament Fair Trade Working Group. Maternal health is another key interest.  In addition, Linda is Vice President of the EP Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union), which brings together parliamentarians from across the developing world with MEPs.

From 1999 to 2004 Linda was Deputy Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party and represented the Socialist Group on the Convention on the Future of Europe. She was Vice President of the Socialist Group from 2004 to 2009. In 2002 Linda was voted British European Woman of the Year for her efforts to engage women in the future of Europe.

Linda has a long background of working on EU affairs and has always believed in the strong benefits of EU membership. She worked in Brussels from 1984-1991, before returning to work in the UK as a regional policy specialist for the Coalfield Communities Campaign and Barnsley Council. She retains a strong interest in local economic regeneration.

She has been a Labour Party member since 1980 and is a member of the Cooperative Party, the Fabian Society, UNISON and UNITE the Union.  Linda was born and brought up in Bradford and lives in Sheffield with her husband Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central.