Caroline Jackson

Caroline Jackson (born 5 November 1946 in Penzance, Cornwall) is a politician in the United Kingdom. She was a Member of the European Parliament for the Conservative Party from 1984 to 2009.

Before she became an MEP, Jackson was a Research Fellow at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she obtained a doctorate in 19th century political history. She worked at the Conservative Research Department from 1973 to 1974 and fought the constituency of Birmingham Erdington in the February 1974 General Election. She then became a member of the research team supporting the first British Conservative MEPs from 1974 -1984. She was elected to represent the Wiltshire constituency from 1984 to 1994, then the new Wiltshire North and Bath from 1994 to 1999 and from 1999 to 2009 served as an MEP for the South West England constituency.

In the European Parliament, she was a leading member of the Environment Committee and between 1999 and 2004 was Chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Consumer Protection and Public Health. During her chairmanship she tried to focus attention as much on Member States' performance in transposing and applying new EU laws as on the adoption of more such laws. This was during a period of very intense legislation in the area of water and air pollution, waste disposal and controls on chemicals. Jackson controlled the committee firmly but with humour – qualities very necessary when German opponents of new laws on alternative medicines attempted to control proceedings in 1995. It was noted that on 11 September 2001 Jackson's committee was the only one that did not adjourn when the news of the attacks on New York came through: Jackson argued that abrupt abandonment of the Committee's work would have been another small victory for the terrorists. Jackson has been described by Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies thus: "She's been here forever: a bit 'jolly hockey sticks' but firm, fair and funny."