Glyn Ford (born 28 January 1950) is a British academic and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 2009, initially for Greater Manchester East until 1999, then South West England from 1999 to 2009. Early life and education Ford was born in Gloucester. He went to Marling School, Stroud. After a year as an apprentice at the British Aircraft Corporation he returned to education gaining a degree in Geology from the University of Reading in 1972, then a master's degree in marine Earth science from University College London in 1974. Academic career For most of his academic career Ford worked at the University of Manchester, as a research fellow (1976–1979), a lecturer (1979–1980), and finally as a senior research fellow in the Department of Science and Technology Policy (1980–1984). He also taught for the Open University (1976–1978) and UMIST (1977–1978). He was a research fellow at the University of Sussex (1978–1979). In 1983, he spent six months as a visiting professor at Tokyo University. After becoming a member of the European Parliament in 1984, the University of Manchester made him an honorary visiting research fellow. Political career While working at the University he was a local councillor in the Greater Manchester borough of Tameside, where he was the Chair of the Environmental Health and Education Committees. On 14 June 1984 Ford was elected as a member of the European Parliament for the new constituency of Greater Manchester East. He held this seat for three terms, until the constituency was abolished in 1999, being re-elected on 15 June 1989 and 9 June 1994. In 1987 he stood as the Labour candidate for the Hazel Grove constituency in Greater Manchester in the 1987 general election, a seat where Labour had no likelihood of winning. From 1989 to 1993 Ford was Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party and Deputy Chair of the European Parliament Socialist Group. Consequently he was also a member of Labour's National Executive Committee. On 10 June 1999 Ford was elected as a member of the European Parliament for the constituency of South West England for both the Labour Party and the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party. Gibraltar was part of the South West England European Parliament constituency. Ford campaigned for Gibraltar to have its own seat in the European Parliament, rather than only having representation through the South West England constituency.