Clare Moody
Clare Miranda Moody is a British politician who was the Member of the European Parliament for the South West England constituency, representing the Labour Party. She was elected in 2014.Moody was born in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire and brought up in Burford, Oxfordshire, by parents who were Conservative Party activists. Her father has been Mayor of Burford.
Moody started work at the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union, and through a series of union amalgamations became a regional officer for Unite the Union in Bournemouth. She lives in Salisbury.In the 2004 European Parliament election she stood for the South West England constituency in fourth position on the Labour Party list, which did not yield her a seat.
In the May 2014 elections for the European Parliament, she was elected as an MEP in South West England, being the lead candidate on the Labour list. On 1 July 2014, the start of her mandate, she was appointed a full member of the Parliament's Committee on Budgets.
Moody supported the Remain platform in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, and afterward argued against a United Kingdom invocation of Article 50 to start the EU withdrawal process in 2016 or 2017, in order to allow more negotiating time. In June 2016, she called for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to stand down as part of the 2016 leadership challenge.
Moody was vice-chair of European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence, and a member of the Foreign Affairs, Women's Rights, and Industry, Research and Energy committees. Moody was co-chair of the Friends of Georgia Group in the European Parliament, and through the Foreign Affairs committee, Moody has worked on the EU-Georgia Association Agreement.
In March 2019, Moody voted in favour of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market despite strong concerns among experts that the legislation enforced censorship on EU internet users.
Moody lost her seat in the 2019 European Parliament election, where three Brexit Party and two Liberal Democrats candidates gained seats. Moody stated afterwards her loss was due to the Labour party stance on Brexit: "If are to avoid having more results like last night we need to adopt a clear #Remain stance and fast."Other political activities
Moody stood in the 2005 general election for Labour in the Salisbury constituency.
During Gordon Brown's premiership she worked in 10 Downing Street.
In 2012, Moody stood as Police and crime commissioner for Labour in Wiltshire, reaching the second voting round.
