Brian Simpson (born February 6, 1953 in Leigh) is a Member of the European Parliament for the Labour Party for North West England. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1989 until 1999 representing Cheshire East and from 1999 until 2004 representing the North West Region, when European Elections switched from First Past the Post to the List System. He lost his seat at the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections. He returned to the European Parliament in September 2006 after the retirement of Terry Wynn, as he was next on the Labour party list. He is currently a full member and Socialist Group spokeperson and coordinator on the Committee on Transport and Tourism and a substitute and Labour spokeperson on the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He is also a full member of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand as well as a substitute on the Delegation for relations with South Africa. In the Committee on Transport and Tourism he has been working as the Socialist Group shadow draftperson on the European Commission proposals on the full accomplishment of the internal market of Community postal services and safety on the Community's railways. Before being elected an MEP he worked as a PE teacher in Liverpool and was a County Councillor for Merseyside County Council, a Member of the Merseyside Police Authority, Deputy Chair of the Liverpool Airport and Councillor at Warrington Borough Council. In this last position he held the post of Deputy Chair of Finance and Chair of the Performance and Policy Review Unit. During the brief period from 2004 to 2006 that he was out of Parliament he became Director of the North West Rail Campaign. He is married with three children. He is passionate about heritage railway, military and transportation history and all sports, especially football, cricket and rugby league. Brian Simpson has been actively involved in several organisations outside formal politics holding the positions of Vice-President of the Heritage Railway Association; the presidency of the Warrington, Halton and St. Helens branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; a Life Governorship of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the presidency of Golborne Cricket Club.
