UK MP Madeleine Moon elected President of NATO Parliamentary Assembly
19 November 2018
Madeleine Moon MP has today been elected unopposed as the new President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, at the plenary session of the Assembly in Halifax, Canada. Ms Moon – a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly since 2010 – becomes the first woman elected by the Assembly as a whole to the position of President.
She has been Deputy Head of the UK delegation since 2015 and has served as Rapporteur for the Defence and Security Committee's Sub-Committee on Future Security and Defence Capabilities.
In her acceptance speech she said: "We all know we are living in a period of great flux and change, and I see this as a time of change for the Assembly also. This is not a time for business as usual."
"All of us need to work together in unison and with a shared sense of common purpose, to develop new ways of cooperation and collaboration that allows this Assembly to continue to grow and to make its voice heard."
In addition to the election of Madeleine Moon MP as Assembly President, Rt Hon Richard Benyon MP has today been elected as one of the Assembly's four Vice-Presidents.
Mr Benyon has been leader of the UK delegation to the Assembly since 2015, and has been a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament since 2016.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, founded in 1955, is made up of 266 legislators from all member states of the Atlantic Alliance, and provides a link between NATO and the parliaments of its member states.
Delegates at the annual session represent the 29 member states, 12 associate countries, the European Parliament, and four regional partner and Mediterranean associate member countries. The 64th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is currently being held in Halifax, Canada, with next year's annual session due to take place in London from 11-14 October 2019.