David Martin MEP (Scotland)

David Martin is Scotland's most senior European Member of Parliament (MEP).

David was educated at Liberton High School and Heriot-Watt University where he was awarded a BA (Hons) in Economics and has an MA in European Management and Employment Law from the University of Leicester. He has been a guest lecturer on the course 'Europe After The Cold War: The Politics of the European Union' at the University of Glasgow.

Member of the European Parliament since 1984, Vice-Chairman of the Socialist Group 1987-1988, Vice President of the European Parliament from 1989 - 2004 and latterly Senior Vice-President of the European Parliament with special responsibility for relations with national parliaments and parliaments of constitutional regional assemblies (e.g. the Scottish Parliament).

He is a member of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade and a member of the Committee on Human Rights and is a substitute member on the Constitutional Affairs Committee.  David is also a delegate to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Former Lothian Regional Councillor. Former leader of the British Labour MEPs 1987-88.

Ex stockbroker's assistant and animal rights campaigner.

Author of EP reports on: Traditional Industrial Regions; RECHAR (areas suffering from the decline in the coal industry); and the 'Martin Reports' (4) on the Maastricht Treaty on European Union. Rapporteur on the 'Function of the Treaty on European Union in view of the IGC'.

Publications include: Fabian pamphlet "Bringing Common Sense to the Common Market - a Left Agenda for Europe"; "European Union and the Democratic Deficit", published by the John Wheatley Centre"; "Europe An Ever closer Europe", published by Spokesman Books; and "1996 and All That - The EP position on the 1996 IGC".

Member of UNITE & GMB trades unions and a member of the Co-op Party.

Special interest: social and regional policy and institutional reform.

Leisure: sport and reading.