Education
Born in Hertfordshire, she was educated at the independent Street Christopher School, Letchworth.
Member of the European Parliament politician
Born in Hertfordshire, she was educated at the independent Street Christopher School, Letchworth.
A former Liberal Democratic councillor in Cherwell and on Oxfordshire County Council, twice European candidate and parliamentary candidate for Banbury in 1997 and Henley in 2001, Bearder has been an active Liberal Democrat for many years. She was the second placed Liberal Democrat candidate for the European Parliament in the South East region of England. Replacing Emma Nicholson Member of the European Parliament, she was placed behind Sharon Bowles Member of the European Parliament on the party list for the 2009 European elections.
Bearder was elected to the European Parliament on 4 June 2009, and took her seat on 14 July.
In 2014 she was re-elected, as the sole British Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament. She focuses on environmental issues, especially wildlife conservation and biodiversity, and has founded the cross-party "MEPs for Wildlife group" which is calling for an European Union Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. She has been appointed as one of the lead MEPs working on the revision of the National Emissions Ceiling Directive, which will set national targets to reduce emissions of harmful pollutants.
This forms part of the European Union"s Clean Air Package, which according to the European Commission could prevent an estimated 38,000 premature deaths a year in the European Union by 2030. Catherine is a longtime campaigner on the issue of human trafficking and has been appointed to draft a European Parliament report looking at the implementation of the European Union Human Trafficking Directive 2011/36/European Union.
She is also vice-chair of the Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG) and vice-president of the Green Liberal Democrats.
Catherine Bearder is a member of the European Parliament"s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee and Women"s Rights Committee.