Kay Swinburne, Baroness Swinburne

Kay Swinburne MEP
Member of the European Parliament for Wales
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 June 2009
Preceded by	Jonathan Evans
Personal details
Born	(1967-06-08) 8 June 1967 Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	King's College London University of Surrey

Jacqueline Kay Swinburne (born 8 June 1967) is a Welsh politician. She is a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for Wales.

Background

Born and raised in West Wales and a fluent Welsh-speaker, Swinburne was educated at Llandysul Grammar School and went on to earn a degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology from King's College London, followed by a Ph.D. in medical research and an MBA from the University of Surrey, before starting a career in international healthcare and finance. A successful career in investment banking has given her an in-depth knowledge of the global financial markets, specialising in advisory work for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including M&A, venture capital investments, mezzanine financing and IPOs.

Early Political Career

Swinburne spent 6 years [29th May 2003 – 24th March 2009] as a Town Councillor for Ledbury Parish Council; she was elected Mayor in 2006.

Later in 2006, she also stood to be a Conservative Councillor on Herefordshire County Council and was duly appointed, serving as Chair of the Health Scrutiny committee. During this time she also served as Deputy Chair of the North Herefordshire Conservatives Association (NHCA). She stepped down as a County Councillor in March 2010.

On 28 March 2008 it was announced that she was to head the Welsh Conservatives' list of candidates for the 2009 European Parliament election, effectively guaranteeing her a seat in the European Parliament. Her election in June 2009 was notable for being the first time the Conservatives topped an election in Wales since 1918.

Wales

Swinburne is a member of the Welsh Conservatives. The Party has 14 Assembly Members, eight Members of Parliament, a Member of the European Parliament and over 100 Councilors across Wales; representing the people and communities of Wales.

European Parliament

In the European Parliament, Swinburne sits in the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. The European Conservatives and Reformists group was created in 2009 to campaign for urgent reform of the European Union. She is a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.In addition she is a member of the EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly (DMED): the Union for the Mediterranean which promotes economic integration and democratic reform across 16 neighbours to the EU’s south in North Africa and the Middle East and a substitute member for the European Parliament Delegation to Palestine. She was the ECR group's Co-ordinator on the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis (CRIS). Her extensive meetings with lobbyists for the financial industry have been criticised.

European Parliament Committees

As Member:

• Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) [16.09.2009 – Present]
• Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis [08.10.2009 – 31.07.2011]

As Substitute:

• Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) [25.01.2012 – Present]
• Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) [07.09.2009 – 23.06.2010]

During her first term as MEP for Wales, she was the Rapporteur on three reports for the ECON committee:

• REPORT on regulation of trading in financial instruments - dark pools etc. [16/11/2010]

- Examined the period of unprecedented change European capital markets have undergone, both due to a changed regulatory environment, post MiFID implementation, and due to the technological advancements over the same period. - All set in the context of the period of financial crisis, which the report followed.

• REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on improving securities settlement in the European Union and on central securities depositories (CSDs) and amending Directive 98/26/EC [14/02/2013]

- Following the 2008-09 crisis, financial regulators and policy makers have widened their interest in the post trade environment to ensuring that our financial infrastructure mitigates counterparty risk where possible; is resilient; and serves the needs of the end investor. - This report closely examined the current post-trade settlement systems to assess where improvements can be made to best serve the needs of all investors. Further objectives of this legislation include the encouragement of new entrants so as to foster a competitive environment, a reduction of cross-border settlement costs and the mitigation of counterparty risk which are all addressed in the report.

• REPORT on Recovery and resolution framework for non-bank institutions [18/06/2013]

- The report focused specifically on Central Counterparts (CCPs) and Central Security Depositories (CSDs) as key critical market infrastructure that needs strong recovery and resolution tools, such as living wills, as a priority.

In addition she also acted as Shadow Rapporteur on a number of reports including the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation (MiFID II) report, the legislation implementing G20 criteria for clearing, reporting and trading of derivatives, the establishment of the Euro European Supervisory Authorities including the ESRB, legislation on economic governance and the establishment of a single banking supervisor for the Eurozone.

European Parliament Delegations

As Substitute:

• Delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council (DPLC) [16.09.2009 – 18.10.2009]
• Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (DMED) [16.09.2009 – 27.03.2012]
• Delegation for relations with Switzerland and Norway and to the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee and the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee (DEEA) [16.09.2009 – Present]

Campaigns in Office

• ‘Save the Bee’: Launched at the Royal Welsh Show, Summer 2011, to increase public awareness of the plight of bee populations in the UK, and Wales in particular. Rates of decline have reached up to 39% in the last five years.
• ‘Tell us your red-tape problems’: Swinburne called on entrepreneurs and leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Wales to contact her with their chief concerns over burdensome rules and regulations - particularly those emanating from Brussels. A campaign designed to raise awareness but also to deal with legislative problems encountered by small businesses in their day-to-day running. The move followed an initiative by the European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani, saying he wanted to discover the 10 most-restrictive pieces of legislation for SMEs on the EU's statute books.

External links

• Welsh Conservatives Website
• Q&A Session for ConservativeHome
• Kay Swinburne's website