Lord Henry Plumb was elected President of the European Parliament, by a margin of just five votes, on 20 January 1987, after an intense campaign in which he was pitted against Enrique Barón Crespo, his main rival for office.
"A democratic gap has opened up between national Parliaments and the European Parliament. The people whom we represent are losing out because this Parliament is being denied the influence it should have"
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A biography and summary of Lord Plumb's political views in French and English ahead of the European Parliament presidential election (Download the document here)
The ‘Blue Knight’, to use the nickname that has stuck ever since those days, served at an eventful time, the highlight of his term being the advent of the Single European Act, which greatly increased the European Parliament’s powers while Euroscepticism was being stoked up, not least by Lord Plumb’s British compatriots. The archives of the President’s Office also show how Lord Plumb endeavoured to defend democracy and human rights at the dawn of a new decade that was to see major upheavals, especially in the countries of Eastern Europe.
Election of Lord Plumb as President of the European Parliament in Strasbourg © European Communities, 1987