Ashley Fox

Ashley Fox
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
for South West England & Gibraltar
Assumed office
4 June 2009
Preceded by Caroline Jackson
Leader of the Conservative Party in the European Parliament
Assumed office
25 November 2014
Preceded by Syed Kamall
Bristol City Council Councillor
for Westbury on Trym
In office
2 May 2002 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by David Poole
Personal details
Born (1969-11-15) 15 November 1969
Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Julia Fox
Children 2
Residence Bristol, United Kingdom
Alma mater Bristol Polytechnic
Occupation Politician, formally Solicitor
Website www.ashleyfoxmep.co.uk

Ashley Peter Fox (born 15 November 1969[1][2]) is a British Member of the European Parliament, representing the South West England & Gibraltar for the Conservative Party. He is leader of the Conservative delegation which is part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) political group. .

Life and history

Educated at The King's School, Worcester, Fox studied law at Bristol Polytechnic before working for a year as an English assistant in France. He took his solicitors finals at Chester College of Law. After completing his articles, he qualified as a solicitor in 1994.

Before being elected as a MEP, Fox worked for 15 years as a solicitor in Bristol, specialising in insurance litigation. He was a partner at Badhams Thompson and an associate at Morgan Cole.

From 1998 to 2000 Fox was chairman of Bristol West Conservative Association. He stood as the Conservative candidate for Bath at the General Election in 2001. In 2002 he was elected as councillor for Westbury-on-Trym on Bristol City Council, a position he held for 8 years.

Fox lives in Bristol with his wife and two children.[2][3]

In the European Parliament

Fox was first elected to the European Parliament in 2009 and was re-elected in 2014.

Ashley was elected as leader of the Conservative MEPs in November 2014. As a British Conservative he is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), where he served as Chief Whip from 2010 to 2014.

In 2011/12 Fox was rapporteur on Corporate Governance in Financial Institutions.[4]

In 2016 he was the shadow rapporteur for energy efficiency labelling[5]

Fox is a member of the Industry, Research & Energy Committee and the Economic & Monetary Affairs Committee in the European Parliament.

In the European Parliament

In the EU Parliament he is a supporter of efforts to scrap the arrangements in which the European Parliament holds sessions in both Strasbourg and Brussels.[6] As part of this campaign he co-authored the Fox-Hafner[7] report which received widespread support in changing the official position of the Parliament in favour of having a single seat in Brussels.

He has campaigned on numerous animal welfare causes such as against puppy smuggling [8] and has supported the Dogs Trust UK as well as BirdLife Malta in its campaign against the hunting of migrating birds.

In the South West & Gibraltar

In 2011 Fox opposed plans by the Environment Agency to move the sea defences a mile inland to create salt marshes and mudflats between Clevedon and Kewstoke.[9]

During the controversy to build an offshore wind farm off the Jurassic Coast in Dorset that was finally rejected by the UK government Ashley was one of the most vocal opponents.[10]

Fox has campaigned for a fairer tax system for South West cider makers.[11]

In February 2016 an EU rule-concession for rod and line fishermen in Dorset was won after interventions from the MEP.[12]

Fox regularly visits Gibraltar and meets with representatives of the Gibraltarian Government. He supported the intervention and efforts of the European Commission during the border row in 2013. He supports Gibraltar's right to self-determination.[13]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Ashley Fox". European Parliament. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  2. 1 2 Who's who for second forename,birthplace, parents, marriage and family details
  3. ↑ "About Ashley". Mark Weston. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  4. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+AMD+A7-2011-0074+001-008+DOC+PDF+V0//EN
  5. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A8-2016-0213+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=en
  6. ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/10565686/The-farce-of-the-EU-travelling-circus.html
  7. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A7-2013-0350+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
  8. ↑ http://www.ashleyfoxmep.com/communications/270-mep-urges-eu-to-step-up-fight-against-puppy-smuggling
  9. ↑ http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/mep-visit-flood-defence-row-village/story-11261958-detail/story.html
  10. ↑ http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/13342253.Exclusion_zone_should_be_set_up_to_protect_Jurassic_Coast_from_wind_farm_development__MEP_says/
  11. ↑ http://www.ashleyfoxmep.com/communications/268-tax-signals-look-positive-for-south-west-cider-producers
  12. ↑ http://www.ashleyfoxmep.co.uk/communications/251-mep-wins-battle-for-dorset-sea-bass
  13. ↑ https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/opinion/european-commission-turns-blind-eye-gibraltar

Most information from Ashley Fox's Website

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