Diana Wallis

Diana Wallis MEP
Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 June 1999
Preceded by	new constituency
Personal details
Born	28 June 1954 (1954-06-28) (age 57) Hitchin
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrat
Spouse(s)	Stewart Arnold
Alma mater	London University
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Church of England
Website	www.dianawallismep.org.uk

Diana Paulette Wallis (born 28 June 1954^[1] in Hitchin, Hertfordshire) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber. Wallis was first elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and in 2009.^[2]

Early career

Wallis read History at the University of London, graduating as a BA. She further studied at the University of Kent, where she obtained the degree of Master of Arts (MA). Before being elected to the European Parliament she practised as a solicitor in London and Hull and was a Councillor on Humberside County Council and East Riding Unitary Council.

Member of the European Parliament

Wallis as Vice-President chairing a parliamentary session

Wallis was elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament 2000–2004 and then following the resignation of Chris Davies MEP she was re-elected Leader in 2006^[3] a post she held till January 2007. She then became the first British female of any political persuasion in twenty years to be elected to the post of Vice President of the European Parliament, as well as being the first British Liberal Democrat to do so. As a member of Parliament's Bureau, her particular responsibility is for transparency and access to documents, the Arctic and high north, Question Time (jointly with another Vice-President) and the Academy of European Law.

Wallis is also a full member of the Petitions Committee. As Rapporteur to the Committee of Inquiry into the Equitable Life affair, she is author of a report which was approved by a large majority in the Parliament.

Wallis has a particular interest in issues of direct democracy and in November 2002 she co-launched the Initiatives and Referendums Institute - Europe (IRI-Europe) report in the European Parliament. In March 2006, she hosted an IRI-Europe conference in Brussels to discuss different approaches across Europe towards the issue of direct democracy and in particular the campaign for introducing a citizens' initiative at the European level. She is a Board Member of the Initiative & Referendum Institute Europe. This is a thinktank which has a particular interest in all issues relating to direct democracy.

Until Spring 2007, she was Chairwoman of the delegation for relations with Switzerland, Iceland and Norway and the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee and remains a full member of that Committee.

Wallis employs her husband Stewart Arnold as a Parliamentary Assistant.^[4] She is also a Member of the Governing Board of the Academy of European Law, Trier (ERA); a Member of the Executive Board for the Institute for European Traffic Law; a founding Member of the Board of the European Initiatives and Referenums Institute (IRI); a Member of the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) Advisory Board; an Observer Member of the UK Law Society's EU Committee, the President of the UK Institute of Translation & Interpreting, the Honorary President of Haltemprice and Howden Liberal Democrat Party and the Honorary President of the Yorkshire and the Humber Branch of the European Movement.

Throughout her time as an MEP, Wallis has authored 28 full reports excluding purely technical, and 16 opinions, asked 40 written and oral questions of the Commission and Council (during Parliament 2004-2009 term). She successfully passed two written declarations – one in 2007 on the European Emergency Number 1-1-2 (which achieved 530 MEP signatures, which is the record so far), and one in 2008 on Emergency cooperation in recovering missing children.^[5]

Outside parliament

Wallis is a Vice President of equal rights charity Parity,^[6][7] and has been elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (FCIL). She completed the London Marathon on 26 April 2009 in a time of 5 hours 22 minutes, running in aid of the World Endometriosis Research Foundation.^[8][9]

References

1. ^ "Who's Who: Diana Wallis MEP". Liberal Democrats website. http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/ms-diana-wallis.html. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
2. ^ "European Parliamentary Election Thursday 4th June 2009 Yorkshire and The Humber Region Statement of Parties Nominated". http://www.europarl.org.uk/sites/all/modules/tinymce/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/filemanager/files/elections/candidates/pdf/official/YorkshireandtheHumber.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
3. ^ "New Euro Lib Dem leader elected". BBC News. 2006-06-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5038354.stm. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
4. ^ Wallis, Diana. "Declaration of members' interests, 2007" (PDF). http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-dif/4544_03-12-2007.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-14. 
5. ^ "Parliament's legislative observatory". http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil. 
6. ^ http://www.parity-uk.org/index.php
7. ^ "Diana Welcomes Winter Fuel Payments Success", 16th Nov 1999, on Diana Wallis' web dianawallismep.org.uk
8. ^ "London Marathon 2009 results". http://results-2009.london-marathon.co.uk/index.php?lastname=wallis&firstname=diana&club=&gender=&nation=&event_id=MAS&start_no=&position=&split=FINISHNET&Submit=show+results+%3E%3E&a=s. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
9. ^ "Diana Wallis MEP runs for endometriosis". JustGiving. 2009. http://www.justgiving.com/dianawallisendowerf. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 

Publications

• Wallis, Diana; Stewart Arnold and Ben Idris Jones A (2002). Forgotten Enlargement: Future EU Relations with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. London: Centre for Reform. ISBN 1902622391. 

External links

• Diana Wallis MEP official site
• Diana Wallis profile at the European Parliament
• Debrett's People of Today
• Diana Wallis profile on Micandidate
• Women in Decision-making: Interview with Diana Wallis

Persondata
Name	Wallis, Diana
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1954-06-28
Place of birth	Hitchin
Date of death
Place of death