Member of the European Parliament
Martin was first  elected MEP for North East region in 1999. He is a member of Regional Policy, and Transport and Tourism Committee. He is also substitute member of  Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. He has been PPS to the Leader of the Conservative MEPs since December 2001.

Martin was born in 1961. He is married with one child. He was educated at Queen Mary College, London and Newcastle Polytechnic. He was Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Executive, 1986-98 and formerly with British Gas. He has a long political career too:

Parliamentary Candidate:
Tynemouth, General Election 1997;
Gateshead East, General Election 1992;
Houghton & Washington, General Election 1987.

Councillor, Gateshead Metropolitan BC, 1987-96;
Councillor, Tyne & Wear County Council, 1983-86.

Martin's interests are squash, and restoration of vintage cars. He is a member of Game Conservancy Association. 

 Fighting for British farmers and fishermen

• Taking the battle for British beef to the Champs Elysees to protest against France's refusal to lift their ban.
• Campaigning for effective action on traceability and labelling of beef and against a threatened whole-herd slaughter policy.
• Winning the battle to safeguard British school milk. Seeking key reforms to Europe's fisheries policy to get greater control at local, regional or national level.

Promoting British business in Europe

• Pushing to complete Europe's single market in areas such as pensions, energy, telecoms and air transport.
• Winning the battle for British chocolate: now our chocolate can be sold anywhere in Europe without altering the ingredients.
• Fighting for lighter EU regulation and less "gold-plating" at home.
• Defining the EU's reaction to electronic commerce, to promote internet trade.
• Proposing a stronger competition policy and resisting efforts to hamstring business on redundancies and freedom to manage.

Campaigning to clean up the EU and end waste

• Forcing through the resignation of the Santer Commission in 1999 and keeping up the pressure on the bureaucracy to reform.
• Backing independent experts' reform plans against socialist foot-dragging and writing the
• European Parliament's own report on internal Commission reform.
• Voting against old Commissioners coming back and refusing to sign off their accounts.
• Voting to cut the number of European Parliament meetings in Strasbourg next year, as part of our campaign to give the MEPs one place to meet.

Opposing centralising socialist plans on tax and defence

• Voting against Commission efforts to harmonise taxes at EU level. Labour and the Lib Dems have supported them.
• Opposing socialist attempts to create a European defence system outside NATO, to weaken UK border controls, and to threaten Margaret Thatcher's EU budget rebate.
• Opposing socialist plans to extend majority voting and impose a binding EU charter of rights, the first step to a European constitution.
• Pushing for enlargement as a top priority and for EU links with the Commonwealth to be boosted.