North East Conservative Martin Callanan elected to crucial Europe role
Flying the flag in Europe: Martin Callanan becomes leader of Conservative MEPs at a crucial time.
He's the most senior elected North East Conservative since Harold Macmillan, according to the Tories' regional chair Ian Galletley.
Perhaps that may be pushing it a bit, but does now have a significant role as the leader of the Conservative party's MEPs in Brussels.
, winning more than half of the votes of his colleagues on the first ballot.
He'll now take over from Yorkshire's , who stood down.
And he assumes the leadership at fascinating and potentially critical moment.
After lying dormant for some time, the future of the European Union is rearing its head as an issue once more, both in the news and within the Conservative party.
This week's Irish bail-out has angered Eurosceptics in the party.
designed to keep Ireland not only afloat, but in the Eurozone that they see as unworkable.
fear where Ireland leads, others like Portugal and Spain may follow, denuding Britain of vital resources at a time of austerity.
And all, in the Eurosceptics' view, to prop up a currency they are venomously opposed to.
But of course the Conservative leadership feel differently, not least perhaps because they are shackled in coalition with the Europhile Lib Dems.
It's an issue that has the potential to convulse Europe and the Coalition.
So enter Mr Callanan.
He was the most Eurosceptic of the three candidates who stood for the leadership, and that may have some significance.
Unlike some of his colleagues, Martin Callanan does believe the UK should remain in the EU.
of never joining the Euro, and on a commitment to push for cuts in EU spending, not just a budget freeze.
And it's worth remembering that the Conservatives are not in coalition with the Lib Dems in Europe.
He is likely to keep a careful eye then to ensure the activities of the Coalition in Westminster don't cut across his grouping's views.
He's not a character who's likely to go out of his way to cause trouble for David Cameron, but at the same time I'm sure he will fight a Eurosceptic corner if necessary.
As someone who was almost a lone Conservative presence in a Labour-dominated Gateshead Council, he's not someone averse to standing up for himself.
He'll will though have to continue the tricky task of trying to stitch together a credible grouping for Conservative Euro-MPs in the Parliament.
, has left the Tories searching for alternative friends in the Parliament.
One of their key allies in the new European Conservatives and Reformists group, is the Polish Law and Justice Party.
, it doesn't look like a a great bedfellow at the moment.
But rejoining the EPP would be anathema to the Eurosceptics.
Plenty for Mr Callanan to deal with then.
And watching on in the Parliament will be another North East MEP with a significant role.
is the leader of the UK Lib Dem grouping. And while their parties are working together in Westminster, Hall and Callanan are unlikely to share much of an agenda in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Martin Callanan will be on the Politics Show at 12pm on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳1 this Sunday.
I'm Richard Moss, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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