The Forgotten Tribe: British MEPs 1979-2020

This book tells the story of the UK Members of the European Parliament from the first direct elections in 1979 to British withdrawal in 2020.


Their work was rarely acknowledged in their own country, making them for the most part a “forgotten tribe”. Nonetheless, in the words of former UK permanent representative Ivan Rogers: “The EU as a whole benefitted hugely from the expertise, the wisdom, the breadth, the temperament, the professionalism, the humour and even the constructive healthy scepticism of so many good British MEPs over the decades. Those contributions won’t be forgotten, and the imprint on what the EU has now become is indelible.”


For this book, Dianne Hayter and David Harley have brought together former MEPs and UK officials, Westminster politicians, journalists and even MEP family members to commemorate and illuminate those contributions. In addition, the book includes a consolidated listing of all 351 directly elected UK MEPs and 16 pages of photographs.


With contributions by Lorin Bell-Cross, David Blackman, William Bethell, Michael Crick, Alan Donnelly, Brendan Donnelly, Duncan Enright, Tom Fieldhouse, David Gow, Rachel Johnson, Richard Johnson, John Kerr, Neil Kinnock, Giada Lagana, Alistair Lexden, Roger Liddle, David Lidington, Caroline Lucas, David McAllister, Giles Merritt, Claude Moraes, Tom Newton Dunn, Caroline Nokes, Rory Palmer, George Parker, Anita Pollack, George Robertson, Ivan Rogers, Michael Russell, Joshua Stratford, Christopher Tugendhat, Graham Watson & Gareth Williams


The editors:

Baroness Dianne Hayter was formerly chief executive of the European Parliamentary Labour Party and served as shadow Brexit minister in the House of Lords throughout the withdrawal process.

David Harley was a career official at the European Parliament, ending his career as deputy secretary-general of the institution and director-general of the presidency.