European Elections 2019: Birkbeck alumni win seats
Lecturer and alumna Barbara Gibson and alumnus Claude Moraes have both won seats in this month’s election.
Barbara Gibson, former PhD student and lecturer in the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication has been elected as the Liberal Democrat MEP for the East of England. Gibson’s PhD explored the intercultural competencies needed by global CEOs.
Claude Moraes was also re-elected as the Labour MEP for London. Moraes is a Birkbeck alumnus who completed an MSc Politics and Administration after completing a law degree in Dundee. He was first elected in 1999 as one of the first Asian MEPs to join the European Parliament and has gone on to have a long career in politics.
Speaking in 2014 about his time at Birkbeck, Moraes said: “My experience at Birkbeck, including the influence of leading left-wing thinkers, has really shaped my career as a Labour politician. The course gave me a broader perspective and I became more mature, as I was studying with people older at the time.”
Barbara and Claude join a long list of Birkbeck alumni who are serving politicians, including the MPs Kemi Badenoch (Con, Saffron Walden), Kwasi Kwarteng (Con, Spelthorne), Gloria Di Piero (Lab, Ashfield), Lisa Nandy (Lab, Wigan), Lucia Berger (Lab, Liverpool Wavertree), John McDonnell (Lab, Hayes & Harlington), Tulip Siddiq (Lab, Hampstead and Kilburn) and Sir Ed Davey (Lib Dem, Kingston).