Mairead McGuinness re-elected First Vice-President of the European Parliament

Drumconrath-based MEP, Mairead McGuinness, has been re-elected First Vice-President of the European Parliament, securing over 93 per cent (618 votes in a valid poll of 661) of the votes in the parliament in Strasbourg this evening.

The MEP, who secured a massive 134,630 first preference votes topping the poll in the Midlands North-West constituency in May’s European elections, said she was deeply honoured to be re-elected as First Vice-President of the Parliament.

“I am truly humbled by the size of the support I have received from my colleagues across the Parliament in different political groupings, particularly given that over 60pc of MEPs are new this term," she stated.

“Being firm and fair is the hallmark of the way in which I operate and I will continue to do that in this new Parliament.

"I will continue to act in the best interests of European citizens, of those in Ireland and in my constituency of Midlands North-West," Ms McGuinness said.
Italian MEP David-Maria Sassoli is the new President of the Parliament.  Sassoli has been an MEP for the centre-left S&D group since 2009, representing Central Italy, and is a member of Italy’s centre-left Democratic Party.

Both the President and Vice President are former print and TV reporters. McGuinness was a farming editor with the Irish Independent, and presenter on RTE's 'Ear to the Ground' prior to election. Before entering politics in 2009, Sassoli worked as a journalist. He had contributed to local newspapers, worked as a TV news reporter and presenter before becoming a deputy director of TG1, Italy’s state-owned broadcaster. 

Ska Keller of the Greens; Sira Rego for the GUE (a left-wing group); and Jan Zahradil for the ECR (the Conservative Party’s group) all ran for the position.

The newly elected 751 MEPs voted this morning for who should replace the outgoing President, Antonio Tajani. In the first round of voting, Sassoli won 325 votes. To win, a candidate must get an absolute majority of the valid votes cast – so 50% plus one (which is 345 out of the 667 voters cast).

The Parliament has to approve the nomination of Ursula van der Leyen, who was chosen by the European Council after three days of discussions this weekend, as head of the European Commission.