I wanted to write to you to introduce myself as the new Conservative MEP for the West Midlands. I took my seat in the European Parliament last week following the death of Philip Bradbourn last month and under the rules of the European Parliament, I became an MEP as the next Conservative member on the list after Philip.
Needless to say, I would prefer to have become an MEP under much happier circumstances. As an MEP Philip was a sterling defender of both the West Midlands and Conservative values in the European Parliament. I aim to follow his example and to seek to emulate his work in promoting the interests of the region as a diverse and proud manufacturing region.
I have two main priorities as an MEP.
· Firstly, to play my part in reforming the EU, renegotiating Britain's relationship with the EU and helping to ensure that we deliver an in/out referendum.
· Secondly, to stand up for the West Midlands and to promote and defend the interests of the region. Philip always used to say that his job was to represent the West Midlands in Europe and not Europe in the West Midlands and I aim to do the same.
In the short term, my focus is to help ensure that we can deliver a Conservative majority government in May and I aim to be out and about as much as possible on the campaign trail to make sure we can win as many seats as possible in the West Midlands.
Becoming an MEP is a tremendous honour and I would like to thank everyone in the party for placing their trust and confidence in me. I’m currently in the process of establishing my office and staffing arrangements and will let you know these details as soon as possible. In the meantime, I aim to regularly send you updates and press releases in order to keep you as up to date as possible with the main issues that we are dealing with in the European Parliament. If you do not want to receive these updates please let me know and we will remove you from the database.
In the meantime, if you would like to contact me by email please use either [email protected] or [email protected]
I'm looking forward to getting out and about in the region and meeting as many of you as possible in the coming months.
Kind Regards,
Dan Dalton MEP