Alan John Donnelly (born 16 July 1957) is a BritishLabour Party politician and formertrade unionist fromJarrow.[1] He served as aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) and as leader of theEuropean Parliamentary Labour Party.
Donnelly was first elected to theEuropean Parliament in 1989, representing theTyne and Wear constituency. He took 69.3% of the vote in 1989, winning by a majority of 95,780.[2] He was re-elected in 1994, winning 74.4% of the vote. When European Parliament constituencies were abolished in June 1999 and replaced by multi-member regional seats, Donnelly was selected as the first candidate on the Labour list in theNorth East and was elected. He resigned in December 1999, after being leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party since 1997.
Before becoming an MEP, Donnelly worked for theGMB trade union, first in the North East region, and then as National Finance Officer in London. During this time he was part theSt Ermin's group of moderate trade unions that met inSt Ermin's Hotel to plan the expulsion of theMilitant tendency from the Labour Party. As an MEP, he was later seen as a key ally ofTony Blair and served on theNational Executive Committee.
He is currently the executive chairman ofSovereign Strategy, a public affairs company that he founded in January 2000.[3] The company now has offices in Newcastle, London, and Brussels.
Donnelly has worked closely with Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, becoming chief race steward in 2007–09. He has also been chair of theSouth Shields Labour Party since 2005. WhenDavid Miliband resigned from this seat in 2013, it was Donnelly that he wrote his resignation letter to.
He isopenly gay.[4]
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| Preceded by | Leader of theEuropean Parliamentary Labour Party 1998–1999 | Succeeded by |