A Quaker is set to become a Member of European Parliament in 02/2012. Rebecca Taylor, 36, was in ‘list place 3’ at the last European Parliament elections for the Yorkshire and Humberside region. The first candidate, Diana Wallis, was elected but has recently announced that she is stepping down for health reasons at the end of 01/2012. Under European Parliament rules, the next candidate in the list from the same party takes over the seat until the next election.

In this case, the second candidate after Diana Wallis was Stewart Arnold who also happens to be Diana’s husband. After a political furore Stewart Arnold has declined to take the seat, so the next person on the list, Rebecca Taylor, has been asked.

Rebecca was born and brought up in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and studied at the universities of Sheffield and Leeds, so has strong ties to the region. In 2010 she stood for election for the Liberal Democrats in Rotherham. She is an expert in EU food and health policy.

During her campaign for European Parliament in 2009 Rebecca told the PCS union that “the UK must cooperate with other EU countries to prevent super rich individuals and corporations avoiding tax”, a stance that her colleagues in government would be welcome to take.

According to the Halifax Courier, Rebecca “said she would be ‘honoured’ to take on the new role”.