Ellie Chowns: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|British Green Party politician (born 1975)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2019}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Ellie Chowns

| honorific-suffix = [[Member of Parliament (UK)|MP]]

| party = [[Green Party of England and Wales]]

| image = Ellie Chowns (40507010863).png

| caption = Chowns in 2019

| parliament = United Kingdom

| constituency_MP = [[North Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Herefordshire]]

| termstart = 4 July 2024

| predecessor = [[Bill Wiggin]]

| majority = 5,894 (11.7%)

| constituency_MP1 = [[West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|West Midlands]]

| term_start1 = [[2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2 July 2019]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/elections-press-kit/0/key-dates-ahead |publisher=European Parliament |access-date=28 May 2019 |date=20 May 2017 |archive-date=25 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525003255/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/elections-press-kit/0/key-dates-ahead |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48365702|work=BBC News |access-date=28 May 2019 |date=22 May 2017}}</ref>

| term_end1 = 31 January 2020

| predecessor1 = [[Siôn Simon]]

| successor1 = ''Constituency abolished''

| parliament1 = European

| birth_name = Eleanor Elizabeth Chowns

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|03|07|df=yes}}

| birth_place = [[Chertsey]], [[Surrey]], England

}}

'''Eleanor Elizabeth''' "'''Ellie'''" '''Chowns''' (born 7 March 1975) is a British [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] politician, serving as the [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Member of Parliament]] for [[North Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Herefordshire]] since 2024. She previously served as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (MEP) for the [[West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)|West Midlands]] for the party from 2019 to 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=The UK's European elections 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/crjeqkdevwvt/the-uks-european-elections-2019 |website=BBC News |access-date=26 May 2019}}</ref> She has been a councillor on [[Herefordshire Council]] since 2017, representing the Bishops Frome & Cradley ward, and is leader of the council's Green group.<ref>{{cite web |title=Councillor details - Councillor Ellie Chowns |url=https://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=50001686 |website=Herefordshire Council |access-date=27 May 2019 |date=27 May 2019}}</ref>

==Early life and education==

Chowns studied geography, [[environmental studies]], and [[development studies]] at the [[University of Sussex]], graduating with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] (BA) degree in 1997. She then undertook a one-year [[Master of Professional Studies]] (MProf) degree in [[sustainable development]] at the [[University of Middlesex]], graduating in 1998. She later undertook doctoral research in [[international development]] at the [[University of Birmingham]]. She completed her [[Doctor of Philosophy]] (PhD) degree in 2014, with a [[doctoral thesis]] titled "The political economy of community management: a study of factors influencing sustainability in Malawi's rural water supply sector".<ref name="bio UoB" /><ref name="Thesis">{{cite web |last1=Chowns |first1=Eleanor |title=The political economy of community management: a study of factors influencing sustainability in Malawi's rural water supply sector |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.607183 |website=E-Thesis Online Service |publisher=The British Library Board |access-date=29 May 2019 |date=2014}}</ref>

==Career==

She is a specialist in [[international development]], having worked for charities such as [[Voluntary Service Overseas]] and [[Christian Aid]] and as a lecturer at the [[University of Birmingham]].<ref name="bio UoB">{{cite web |title=Dr Ellie Chowns |url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/government-society/departments/international-development/staff/profiles/chowns-ellie.aspx |website=University of Birmingham |access-date=27 May 2019}}</ref>

==Political career==

Chowns got involved in politics in 2015.<ref name="Rebrick meets: Dr Ellie Chowns MEP">{{cite web | title=Rebrick meets: Dr Ellie Chowns MEP|url=https://www.redbrick.me/redbrick-meets-ellie-chowns/|website=Rebrick |date=17 June 2019 |access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref> In 2017 she was elected as a councillor on [[Herefordshire Council]], and became the leader of the Green group. She also stood in the general election in [[North Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Herefordshire]], securing 5.5% of the vote.

In May 2019, Chowns was re-elected onto the Herefordshire Council, with [[2019 Herefordshire Council election|78.6%]] of the vote. Later in the month, Chowns was subsequently elected as an MEP in the [[2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2019 European elections]], winning 10.66% of the vote share. In the same election, the Green Party won 7 MEPs, up from 3.

Chowns stood as the Green candidate for [[North Herefordshire]], a safe Conservative seat, in the December 2019 parliamentary election. She won 9.3% of the vote share, the 6th highest Green vote share in the country and the highest of any seat where there was no [[Unite to Remain]] alliance.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000847 | title=Herefordshire North | date=13 December 2019 | work=BBC News | access-date=9 May 2020 }}</ref>

In July 2024, Chowns won the North Herefordshire parliamentary seat in the UK general election, overturning a significant Conservative majority in what had long been considered a 'safe seat'.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://greenparty.org.uk/2024/07/05/greens-makes-history-in-north-herefordshire-as-ellie-chowns-defeats-conservatives | title=Greens makes history in North Herefordshire as Ellie Chowns defeats Conservatives }}</ref> Chowns received 43.2% of the vote, a swing of +34.4% as compared to the 2019 election.

===Extinction Rebellion===

Chowns was arrested on 14 October 2019 in [[Trafalgar Square]] defending the rights of [[Extinction Rebellion]] protesters to continue. She was released pending investigation, and later was one of the claimants to challenge the legality of the Section 14 order under which she was arrested. On 6 November 2019 the High Court ruled this blanket use of Section 14 by the Metropolitan Police was unlawful.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50316561|title=Extinction Rebellion: High Court rules London protest ban unlawful|work=BBC News|date=6 November 2019|access-date=13 December 2019}}</ref> Chowns declined to sue the Metropolitan Police for unlawful arrest, but declared the ruling to be a "victory for the right to peaceful assembly and protest, two cornerstones of our democracy".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://elliechownsmep.org.uk/news/high-court-rules-against-met-ban-of-protest|title=High Court rules against Met ban of protest|website=Ellie Chowns MEP|date=11 November 2019|access-date=13 December 2019}}</ref>

== Personal life ==

Chowns is a member of [[Giving What We Can]], a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to [[effective altruism|effective charities]].<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/about-us/members/|title=Members|website=www.givingwhatwecan.org}}</ref>

==Selected works==

* {{cite journal |last1=Chowns |first1=Ellie |title=Is Community Management an Efficient and Effective Model of Public Service Delivery? Lessons from the Rural Water Supply Sector in Malawi |journal=Public Administration and Development |date=October 2015 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=263–276 |doi=10.1002/pad.1737|url=http://pure-oai.bham.ac.uk/ws/files/28702014/Chowns_Community_Management_Public_Administration_Development.pdf |doi-access=free }}

==External links==

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[[Category:1975 births]]

[[Category:MEPs for England 2019–2020]]

[[Category:UK MPs 2024–present]]

[[Category:21st-century women MEPs for England]]

[[Category:Green Party of England and Wales MEPs]]

[[Category:Green Party of England and Wales MPs]]

[[Category:People from Chertsey]]

[[Category:21st-century British women politicians]]

[[Category:Councillors in Herefordshire]]

[[Category:Green Party of England and Wales councillors]]

[[Category:Alumni of the University of Sussex]]

[[Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham]]

[[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]