Introduction
Clare Miranda Moody (born 30 October 1965) is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West England region for the Labour Party. She was elected in 2014.
Early and working life
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.
European Parliament
In the 2004 European Parliament election she stood in for the South West England region in fourth position on the Labour list, which did not yield a seat.
In the May 2014 elections for the European Parliament, she was elected as an MEP in South West England for the Labour Party, 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 afterwards argued against a United Kingdom invocation of Article 50 to start the EU withdrawal process in 2016 or 2017 to allow more negotiating time. In June 2016 Moody called for Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn to stand down as part of the 2016 leadership challenge.
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.