Richard Corbett

For those of a similar name, seeRichard Corbet (disambiguation).

Richard Corbett CBE
Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party
In office 25 October 2017 – 31 January 2020
Deputy	Seb Dance
General Secretary	Stephen Pearse
Chair	Theresa Griffin
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by	Glenis Willmott
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Member of the European ParliamentforYorkshire and the Humber
In office 1 July 2014 – 31 January 2020
Preceded by	Andrew Brons
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
In office 20 July 1999 – 13 July 2009
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Andrew Brons
Member of the European ParliamentforMerseyside West
In office 23 December 1996 – 19 July 1999
Preceded by	Kenneth Stewart
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Richard Graham Corbett (1955-01-06)6 January 1955 Southport,England
Political party	Labour
Education	Trinity College, Oxford University of Hull
Website	Official website

Richard Graham CorbettCBE(born 6 January 1955) is a former British politician who served as the finalLeaderof theEuropean Parliamentary Labour Party(EPLP), from 2017 to 2020.

He was for decades one of the leading political and academic participants in the debates over British membership of the EU and of reforming the EU.

He was aMember of the European Parliament(MEP) forMerseyside Westfrom 1996 to 1999 (under the system that predated theproportional representationregional system) and then forYorkshire and the Humberfrom 1999 to 2009, when he lost his seat, and again from 2014 to 2020. As Labour Leader in the European Parliament, he attended Shadow Cabinet meetings and was a member of the Labour Party's National Executive Committee, where he played a key role in Labour's decision to back a second referendum on Brexit once the actual terms of the Brexit deal were known.

Between January 2010 and February 2014, Corbett was an advisor to the first full-time and long-termPresident of the European Council,Herman Van Rompuy.In this capacity, and as a frequent writer and commentator on European affairs, he was voted by a panel of retired diplomats, journalists, academics and think-tankers on 14 November 2012 as the fourth most influential Briton on EU policy, ahead of the Prime Minister.

In 2003, Corbett became the first MEP to write a regular personal blog, and in 2015 he became the first British politician to develop and release a phone app.

Education

Corbett was born inSouthport,Lancashire,to parents of working-class background from Wales and London. He attended primary school at Farnborough Road School in Southport. When his father was offered a post as a statistician at theWorld Health Organization,the family moved toGeneva,Switzerland, and Corbett attended theInternational School of Geneva(attended at the time mostly by children fromUN Agencies in Geneva), where he obtained theInternational Baccalaureate.He was captain of the football team and also played for the junior team of a Swiss second division club.

He won a place atTrinity College, Oxford,the first generation of his family to be able to go to university, and obtained a degree inPhilosophy, Politics and Economics.He was the Secretary of theLabour Cluband chairman of the Oxford Committee for Europe. He co-ordinated the Oxford student 'Yes' campaign in the1975 referendumon membership of theEuropean Community.He also skied for Oxford against Cambridge.

Corbett later completed a doctorate in political science at theUniversity of Hull.

Political career

Before the European Parliament

Richard Corbett's activities in the European Students at Oxford led on to him being elected first to the youth board of theEuropean Movementin Britain and then to the international presidency of the youth wing of the European Movement and of theUnion of European Federalists,theYoung European Federalists(JEF), a post he held from 1979 to 1981, drafting their manifesto, which was the first to coin the phrase "democratic deficit"in relation to the European Parliament's then lack of power over European legislation.

Corbett was secretary-general of the European Co-ordination Bureau of International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations from 1977 to 1981, representing youth organisations in theCouncil of Europe'sEuropean Youth FoundationandEuropean Youth Centre.He also helped to set up the Youth Forum of the European Communities, the predecessor of theEuropean Youth Forum,and representedWestern Europeanyouth organisations in negotiations withEastern Europeanorganisations pursuant to the Helsinki Treaty (as well as at theWorld Festival of Youth and StudentsinHavanain 1978, along withCharles ClarkeandPeter Mandelson). He worked withAltiero SpinelliMEP on the latter's proposal for a draft treaty establishing a European Union, adopted by the European Parliament in 1984.

Before being elected to the European Parliament, Corbett worked in thevoluntary sectorand as a civil servant,later becoming a policy advisor to and then Deputy Secretary General of theSocialist Groupin the European Parliament. He worked on drafting the parts of the treaties ofMaastrichtandAmsterdamthat increased the powers of the Parliament, notably helping to draft the "codecision procedure"which now applies for adoptingEuropean legislationthrough successive readings of the Parliament and theCouncil.

In 1992, Corbett was made Ambassador of Goodwill of the US State ofArkansas,by its then GovernorBill Clinton.

First Period as a Member of the European Parliament

Corbett was a member of the Parliament'sConstitutional Affairs committeeand from 1999 to 2009 was the spokesman for theLabour Party,as well as the whole of the widerGroup of the Party of European Socialists,on European constitutional affairs. In 2006, he was elected Deputy Leader of theEuropean Parliamentary Labour Party,which he remained until the end of his first period as an MEP, declining (to some surprise) to challenge for the leadership whenGary Titleystood down in 2008.

In 2003, his proposals to re-write the European Parliament'sRules of Procedurewere largely accepted. In 2004–2005, he was the co-rapporteur (withIñigo Méndez de Vigo) for Parliament on theTreaty establishing a constitution for Europe.This report formed the basis of Parliament's official position on the treaty, which he was then invited to present to several national parliaments.

In 2005, he was appointed as Parliament's negotiator (along withJoseph DaulMEP) to broker a new system of parliamentary scrutiny over Commission implementing measures (under the previously much-criticised "comitology"procedure), which led to an agreement among the Council of ministers, theCommissionand the Parliament in 2006 giving Parliament the right tovetoquasi-legislative implementing measures. This represented a major increase in Parliament's powers over the Commission.

In 2007–08, he was again co-rapporteur withIñigo Méndez de Vigofor Parliament on theTreaty of Lisbon,(which replaced the constitutional treaty after two member states had declined to ratify it) and was again rapporteur for a new overhaul of Parliament's procedures in 2009 and, after his five years out of the Parliament (see below), in 2016 and 2018.

Corbett was a strong advocate of EU reform, with a particular interest in improving democratic accountability by continuing to increase the European Parliament's power within the EU institutional system. Professor Juliet Lodge of Leeds University has named Corbett as one of five "movers and shakers" in the European Parliament who "have brought the European Parliament from being a mere talking shop to a legislature with genuine power".

Corbett's voting record and other parliamentary activities can be found on the VoteWatch website.

Five years out of the European Parliament

Corbett lost his seat in the 2009 European Parliament elections, which saw a big fall in the Labour share of the vote in the wake of the Westminster expenses scandal. The BNP took the seat. The BBC website carried the following comment from their European editor, Mark Mardell:

"The saddest moment of the night: Labour MEP Richard Corbett lost his seat. Irrespective of party politics, there are some people who are good for politics as a whole. Mr Corbett, a decent, thoughtful politician, is also one of the few people who understand how the European Parliament actually works and explained it well. He'll be missed on all sides of the chamber".

Mark Mardell had previously referred to Richard Corbett as:

"an example of a conscientious and hard working politician if ever there was one".

After his defeat, Corbett spent two months in Ireland from August to October 2009 helping (behind the scenes) the "Yes" campaign in the second Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, in which 67% of the 59% turnout voted in favour.

In December 2009, Corbett was invited to join the private office (cabinet) of the first full-time President of theEuropean Council,Herman Van Rompuy,as his advisor on constitutional issues, but also handling his relations with the European Parliament and national parliaments, with theEuropean Committee of the Regionsand theEuropean Economic and Social Committeeas well as helping on relations with some governments, including the UK.

Return to the European Parliament

Corbett left the Van Rompuycabinetin March 2014, in order to stand for election in the2014 European Parliament electionsas the Labour party's second candidate in Yorkshire & Humber.In Labour's internal ballot of party members to choose their candidates, Corbett came first (with the highest proportion of first preference votes of all new candidates in the country) securing him second spot on the list of Labour candidates, behind the sitting MEPLinda McAvan.Labour won two seats in the election in Yorkshire, and so Corbett was returned to the Parliament.

In Parliament, Corbett returned to the Constitutional Committee and served also on the Fisheries Committee (as a full member) and the Economic Committee (as a substitute). He was elected again as Deputy Leader of the Labour MEPs in September 2014. He was again rapporteur for a new overhaul of Parliament's procedures in 2016 and 2018–19. On 25 October 2017 he was elected Leader of the Labour MEPs (EPLP) following the retirement ofGlenis Willmott,defeatingSiôn SimonandClare Moodyin the vote.

As Leader of the EPLP, Corbett was a member of the Labour Party NEC and attended Shadow Cabinet. In these roles, he was heavily engaged in the internal party discussions that eventually led to Labour calling for a new referendum on Brexit. He spoke at some of the large marches in London and elsewhere calling for a peoples' vote on the final Brexit deal, aon the ground that Brexit was turning out to be very different from what the Leave campaign had promised.

In advance of theUnited Kingdom European Union membership referendum,Corbett launched an app calledDoorstep EUforIPhoneandAndroidin order to debunk myths about the EU, deliver authoritative briefings on key issues and detailed statistics of the EU's impact on the United Kingdom.

He supportedYvette Cooperin the2015 Labour Party leadership election,Owen Smithin the2016 election,andKeir Starmerin the2020 election.

After Brexit

In 2021-22, the European Parliament asked Corbett to represent it in the Common Secretariat running theConference on the Future of Europe,while simultaneously beingDeputy chef de cabinetto the Secretary General of the European Parliament.

In 2023, theS&DGroup in the European Parliament asked him to be one of three experts to carry out an independent inquiry into theQatargatescandal. As the Belgian judicial investigation was still on-going, the inquiry could not trespass on its work, so it instead focussed on weaknesses in the rules and practices of the EU, the European Parliament and the S&D Group that might have made inappropriate interference in the work of the Parliament more easy. Their reportmade a number of recommendations and those that required changes to the Parliament's Rules of Procedure and the Code of Conduct for Members were subsequently taken up and largely adopted by the Parliament in the autumn of 2023.

Now retired, Corbett has continued to speak and write about European affairs. He authored the primer booklet "The Progressive Potential of the EU"that is being used for training of candidates and activists of theParty of European Socialistsin the 2024 European elections.

Other activities

Richard Corbett versus the UK Independence Party

Richard Corbett was an early critic of theUnited Kingdom Independence Party(UKIP).

In June 2004, he drew attention, inThe Independentnewspaper, to UKIP links with the far-rightBritish National Partyin that year's local elections: "In Yorkshire, where both theBNPand UKIP put up candidates, they appear to have come to an arrangement not to stand against one another ".

Richard Corbett's pamphlet25 Things You Didn't Know When You Voted For UKIP.

Following Ashley Mote's imprisonment in September 2007 for fraud,Corbett called on the government to change the law which allowed the former UKIP MEP to be paid in full during his spell in jail. The Minister responsible for payment of MEPs (and MPs),Harriet Harman,promised to look into the matter.

Corbett continued to campaign vigorously against the UK Independence Party in the run-up to the 2014 European elections. After they secured the biggest share of the vote in these elections, he subsequently wrote "I think it is a mistake to focus exclusively on UKIP's racism. That unsavoury side of UKIP has been adequately exposed by others [...] We need to expose them on their policies".

Sports policy

In 2006, Corbett served on the Independent European Sport Review,set up by several national governments andUEFAand chaired by the formerPortugueseDeputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Arnaut. The review was in fact about the governance of football, and Corbett chaired the sub-group on political aspects. The review paved the way for a number of changes introduced by UEFA, among them theUEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations.Corbett has maintained an interest in the governance of football ever since, taking up a number of issues with UEFA.

Grimethorpe Colliery Band

Corbett is the Honorary President of theGrimethorpe Colliery Band,a brass band based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire. The band achieved worldwide fame after appearing in the filmBrassed Off,as well as becoming (along with Black Dyke Mills Band), the first brass band to perform at the Proms.

Labour Party positions

Corbett has held a number of offices in theUK Labour Party.As well as being Deputy Leader and, from October 2017 until Brexit, Leader of theEuropean Parliamentary Labour Party(EPLP), he served on the Regional Board forYorkshireand the party's National Policy Forum, a position to which he was re-elected by fellow Labour MEPs in May 2014.He was national chair of theLabour Movement for Europefrom 2009 to 2011, and subsequently served as one of its Labour MEP representatives.

As Leader of the EPLP, Corbett was a member of theNational Executive Committee(NEC) of the Labour Party and attendedshadow cabinetmeetings.

Other organisations

Corbett is Honorary Vice President of the UKEuropean Movement,having served as Chair following the resignation ofLaura Sandysin the wake of the 2016 referendum result. He did not want to continue as Chair, citing time constraints, and handed over toStephen Dorrellin December 2016.

Academic

Corbett was a Visiting Professor at theCollege of Europein Bruges and on the board of the Salzburg Centre for European Union Studies (SCEUS) of theUniversity of Salzburg.

He has written numerous academic articles and books (see 'Publications' below)

Publications and communications activities

Corbett is the co-author of an eponymous academic textbook on the European Parliament (now the standard reference book on it across Europe) and several other academic publications, most notably the Oxford University Press textbook "The European Union: how does it work?" (see below).

Corbett was an early user of new media. In 2003, he was the first MEP from any country to launch ablog,which he resumed in 2014 as part of his election campaign. In 2004 his website was cited as one of the most comprehensive of any British politician's byNew Statesmanmagazine, which nominated him for a New Media award.In 2015, he became the first MEP to launch a mobile app, Doorstep EU, aimed at activists, journalists and other politicians. In the same year, he also took part in anAMAonReddit.

Corbett starred in the docudrama filmDo it like a European?,which won a prize at the international Winton Film Contest.

Languages

Corbett speaksEnglish,French,GermanandDutch.

Personal life

Corbett lives inShipleynearBradford;he formerly lived in the nearby village ofSaltaire,for whoseWorld Heritage Statushe helped to campaign. As an MEP, he had his constituency office inLeeds,where he shared premises withHilary BennMP.

Corbett is married to Lorraine Kirkwood. He was previously married to Inge Van Gaal and Anne De Malsche. He has three children and five grandchildren.

Publications

• ‘The European Union: How Does it Work?' Latest (6th) edition with Profs Daniel Kenealy and John Peterson (2022, Oxford University Press)ISBN978-0-19-886224-6
• Corbett, Richard; Jacobs, Francis; Neville, Darren (2016),'The European Parliament'(9 ed.), London: John Harper Publishing,ISBN978-0-9934549-5-0.Apart from Darren Neville replacing Michael Shackleton, the same three co-authors have written every edition since the first in 1990.
• 'The Evolving Roles of the European Parliament and of National Parliaments' in ' EU Law after Lisbon' by Professors Piet Eeckhout, Andrea Biondi and Stephanie Ripley (2012, Oxford University Press)ISBN978-0-19-964432-2
• 'Parameters of a Crisis' in 'The future of Economic Governance in the EU' (Policy Network, London, 2012)
• ‘President of the European Council, new kid on the block: asset or complication?'. In T. Christiansen, M. Shackelton and S. Vanhoonacker (eds), The European Union after the Lisbon Treaty. Maastricht: Maastricht Centre for European Governance, Maastricht Monnet Lecture Series Vol. 3 (2011).
• 'The Treaty of Maastricht: from conception to ratification' Longman - Cartermill Publishing (1993)ISBN0-582-20906-4
• 'The European Parliament's Role in Closer European Integration', London, Macmillan (1998)ISBN0-333-72252-3and New York, St Martin's Press (1998)ISBN0-312-21103-1.Reprinted in paperback by Palgrave, London (2001)ISBN0-333-94938-2
• 'Electing Europe's First Parliament' Fabian tract, with Rod Northawl, Fabian Society, London (1977) ref no. 0307-7535.ISBN978-0-7163-0449-4
• 'A Socialist Policy for Europe', pamphlet with Geoff Harris, introduction by the Rt Hon Denis Howell MP. London, Labour Movement for Europe (1985)
• 'Progress and Prospects' (of the draft treaty on European Union) in Juliet Lodge (ed), Foreword by Altiero Spinelli; 'European Union: The European Community in Search of a Future' London, Macmillan (1986)ISBN0-333-39739-8
• 'The 1985 Intergovernmental Conference and the Single European Act' in Roy Pryce (ed); The Dynamics of European Union', London, Croom Helm (1987)ISBN0-7099-4327-X
• 'The European Parliament's new "Single Act" Powers, in 'Nieuw Europa' Magazine, year 15, nr 1 (1989), The Hague
• 'Representing the People', in A.Duff, J. Pinder and R. Pryce (eds); Maastricht and Beyond, London, Routledge (1994)
• 'The European Parliament and the Idea of European Representative Government' in John Pinder (ed), Foreword by Princess Margariet of the Netherlands; 'Foundations of Democracy in the European Union' London, Macmillan (1999)ISBN0-333-77470-1and New York, St Martin's Press (1999)ISBN0-312-22296-3
• 'A Very Special Parliament: The European Parliament in the Twenty-First Century' in 'The Journal of Legislative Studies, Vol 8' (2002). Frank Cass. 1357-2334
• 'Combatting Mythology and Changing Reality: the Debate on the Future of Europe', London, Labour Movement for Europe (2003)
• 'The EU - Who makes the decisions? A guide to the process and the UK's role'. London, European Movement (2006)
• 'The European Parliament 2004-2009' in Juliet Lodge (ed), 'The 2009 elections to the European Parliament'. Palgrave macmillan 2010ISBN978-0-230-23040-8
• 'The Progressive Potential of the EU'. Foundation for European Progressive Studies FEPS (2022)ISBN978-3-8012-3101-9
• 'The European Parliament and the Spitzenkandidaten Process' in Matilde Ceron, Thomas Christiansen, Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos (eds) 'The Politicisation of the European Commission’s Presidency: Spitzenkandidaten and Beyond'ISBN978-3-031-48172-7(print) andISBN978-3-031-48173-4(eBook)
• Numerous newspaper articles and articles in academic journals

External links

• Official website
• Richard Corbett's blog
• Doorstep EUmobile app
• Profile on European Parliament website