A Cumbrian Euro MP has destroyed one of the great myths of British politics by proving that it is possible to become known by the people he represents.

Liberal Democrat Chris Davies, who writes a regular monthly column for the Westmorland Messenger, has established the highest profile within his region of any Euro-MP in Britain, according to Manchester Metropolitan University Business School academic Dr Phil Harris.

This is despite the fact that he does not have extensive national coverage.

In a research paper published this month, Dr Harris says that European politicians have a notoriously low profile in Britain. He points to the example of Labour MEP Eryl McNally (East of England), who last year announced her decision not to seek re-election claiming that "the vast majority of her constituents didn't have the foggiest idea who she was".

But writing in the Public Affairs Newsletter, Dr Harris singles out Euro-MP Chris Davies as a politician who has managed to buck the trend and escape from the cloak of invisibility which hides so many European representatives.

The academic from the Centre for Corporate and Public Affairs at Manchester Metropolitan University says that last year Mr Davies was referred to in more than 3,000 local newspaper items.

"Arguably he has succeeded in becoming Britain's most high profile regional MEP," he writes.

The North West is represented in total by ten MEPs, five Conservative, four Labour and one Liberal Democrat. Dr Harris reveals that a study carried out during February 2002 highlighted a remarkable divergence between the attention paid to each by regional newspapers, with Mr Davies securing ten times more coverage than the average of his rivals.

The MEP, who is the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the European Parliament, said that he was surprised to learn that his profile across the North West region was so high.

May 7, 2003 10:01