Lucy Harris (politician)

Lucy Elizabeth Harris (born 19 October 1990) is a former British Conservative Party politician. She was elected as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Yorkshire and the Humber constituency in the 2019 European parliamentary election. She held this role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU. Prior to her political career, she worked in publishing as a corporate communications executive for The Quarto Group, and later the Greater London Authority.

Lucy Harris
Member of the European Parliament
for Yorkshire and the Humber
In office
2 July 2019 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byLinda McAvan
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1990-10-19) 19 October 1990
Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Political partyConservative (since 2020)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (2019–2020)
Brexit (2019)
Alma materCity, University of London
University College London
OccupationPolitician

Early life and career

Harris was born on 19 October 1990 in Ipswich, Suffolk.[1][2] She grew up in Suffolk but lived in Italy for two years, learning Italian while there.[3] Her early education was at Farlingaye High School in Woodbridge, Suffolk, where she was part of the senior choir.[4][5] She studied classical singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and City, University of London, and completed a master's degree in Publishing at University College London.[6][7] Harris has worked as a corporate communications executive for The Quarto Group, and as a press officer for the GLA Conservatives.[8] She has also performed solo soprano at the Royal Albert Hall.[7]

Political career

Harris voted for Brexit in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum and said that this was the first time that she had voted for anything, as she felt that the EU was undemocratic and corrupt.[9] In November 2018, she founded Leavers of Britain, a social club for Brexit supporters in the United Kingdom. Harris created the club as a safe space for Brexit supporters who she felt were being vilified for their views; she previously claimed to have been vilified by a fellow commuter on the Tube, who allegedly labelled her "stupid" and "racist" because she was carrying a bag with an anti-EU slogan.[3][10] Harris has written pro-Brexit articles for the British internet magazine Spiked.[11]

She stood as a candidate for the Brexit Party in the 2019 European parliamentary election. She was second on her party's list, and was elected as one of three of its MEPs for the Yorkshire and Humber constituency.[9][12][13] In a BBC Radio 5 Live interview prior to the EU parliamentary elections, Harris suggested that leaving the EU would have a "short-term" negative effect on the economy, which she estimated to last for "30 years" but that it was a cost worth paying for regaining sovereignty and democracy.[14] She was a member of the Committee on International Trade and was part of the delegation to the EU–Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee in the European Parliament.[1]

On 5 December 2019, Harris resigned her party's whip and became an independent MEP to support the Conservative Party in the December general election.[15] Harris later became a Conservative MEP in January 2020, and held this role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU in the same month.[16] She was a special adviser in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in 2022.[17]

Personal life

Harris has been in a relationship with former special adviser Hugh Bennett since 2019. They became engaged in December 2022.[18][19]

References
  1. "9th parliamentary term". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. "Lucy Harris". Companies House. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  3. Bounds, Andy (8 February 2019). "Brexit supporters form social club to escape hostility". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  4. "Woodbridge singer chosen as lead soprana for John Lewis 150th anniversary concert at Royal Albert Hall". Ipswich Star. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  5. "Recognising Success" (PDF). Farlingaye High School. October 2009. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  6. "Lucy Harris". Battle of Ideas. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  7. Gibbs, Simon (16 January 2018). "Speaker Profile: Lucy Harris – Coordinator of Leavers of London". Libertarian Home. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  8. "Declaration of Member's Financial Interests" (PDF). European Parliament. 11 June 2019. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  9. Charlesworth, Ricky (21 June 2019). "Anti-Brexit marchers in Leeds are just prolonging division, says Yorkshire-based Brexit Party MEP". Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  10. Harris, Lucy (27 June 2017). "How I was called a racist for having a pro-Brexit bag". The Spectator. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. "Lucy Harris, Author at spiked". Spiked. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  12. "2019 European elections: List of candidates for Yorkshire and the Humber". BBC News. 28 April 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  13. Halliday, Josh (25 April 2019). "Brexit party: opera singer and ex-Loaded editor on candidate list". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  14. Evans, Greg (18 May 2019). "Brexit Party candidate says that leaving the EU will have an effect on the economy for '30 years'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  15. "Three more Brexit Party MEPs quit to back PM's deal". Shropshire Star. 5 December 2019.
  16. Longworth, John (8 January 2020). "My fellow former Brexit MEPs and I are joining the Tories to help Boris deliver". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  17. "DLUHC: special advisers' meetings, October to December 2022". gov.uk. 30 March 2023.
  18. Proctor, Kate; Perraudin, Frances (5 December 2019). "Farage hits out at three MEPs who quit Brexit party to back Tories". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  19. @Lugey6 (31 December 2022). "With a new year comes new announcements. Ecstatic to say, we're engaged! 💍🍾🥰 @HughRBennett" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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