Marina Yannakoudakis

Marina is a wife, mother of three and former businesswoman. She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for London in June 2009, where she is Conservative Spokesman on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and a full member of the parliament’s Environment, Public Health & Food Safety Committee.

With her 25 years of experience as a business woman balancing a busy family life, one of Marina’s key areas of interest has always been promoting and finding ways to support female entrepreneurs. Marina drafted a report that made it easier for women to start up their own business; this was overwhelmingly adopted by parliament.

Marina is opposed to quotas for women in the boardroom at EU level, and is leading the campaign against intrusive EU employment legislation which patronises women and leads to the inevitable use of women as window dressing on boards. She has campaigned hard against EU plans to foist 20 weeks’ maternity leave on full pay on to UK Business, a move which would have cost the UK economy £2.5 billion a year and crippled many SMEs.

She recently had a report unanimously adopted in the Equalities committee which seeks the eradication of torture in the world, and an end to the horrific practice of Female Genital Mutilation.
Marina is an avid supporter of Human rights; she campaigns hard to eradicate human trafficking, FGM and domestic violence

Within her role as a Member of the Environment and Public Health Committee Marina has focused on the health issues that she believes most affect her London constituents. These include her work on organ donation, the safety of medicines, and Alzheimer’s. She is Vice Chairman of the European Alzheimer's Alliance.

A keen writer, Marina regularly contributes to leading international publications, such as the European Government Gazette, Parliament Magazine and the Conservative party affiliated BOW Group. Marina has been a key speaker at numerous international conferences, forums and events such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) based in Paris.

Marina lives in Barnet, North London with her husband Zacharias, they have three grown-up children - Stephanie, Basil and Larry.