Interests: Theatre, ballet, gardening

- At London School of Economics: B.Sc.(Econ.) (International History) (1972) and M.Sc.(Econ.) (European Studies) (1977). Inns of Court School of Law (barrister). Worked in the Department of the Environment and the Independent Broadcasting Authority (1972-1975). Study, travel and research (1975-1979). Official, European Commission (1979-1985). Worked at Lloyds of London and American Express Europe (1985-1990). Independent adviser on European affairs (1990-1999).

- Vice-Chair, Liberal Democrats' Federal Policy Committee (1991-1998).

- Councillor, London Borough of Islington (1991-1999). Life peer, House of Lords (1997- ).

- Member of the European Parliament (since 1999). ELDR coordinator, Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights (1999-2004). Vice-Chairwoman, Delegation for relations with the countries of south-east Europe (2002-2004).

Elected to the European Parliament in 1999, Sarah has been a consistent pro-European since she first thought about politics in her teenage years in the 1960s.

Brought up in Suffolk and Hampshire, Sarah studied International History at the London School of Economics in 1969. She got her degree with first class honours in 1972 and a Master’s in European Studies in 1976.

After a spell in Whitehall, qualifying as a barrister and various travels abroad, Sarah became a ‘Eurocrat’, an official of the European Commission in Brussels from 1979-85 under Roy Jenkins (who later became the Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Jenkins of Hillhead).

Motivated by the ferment in British politics in the early 1980s, Sarah became active in the Liberal Party, in alliance with the SDP. She stood for the European Parliament for the first time in her original home area of Hants East and Wight in 1984, receiving 29% of the vote, but under the ‘first past the post’ electoral system those votes were all wasted. She also stood in 1989 and 1994, in London.

Sarah commented “As a Liberal/Liberal Democrat here in the UK with our unfair voting system biased to the two bigger parties, it took me 15 years to become a Euro-MP! But it shows I am persistent and committed to what I believe in.”

Coming back to London in 1985, Sarah worked as a European adviser in the City for Lloyd’s of London and American Express, and from 1990 as a freelance EU consultant. She got elected to Islington Council in 1991 and played a major part in helping the Liberal Democrats take control of Islington Council in 1999.

She was nominated by the then Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown to the House of Lords in 1997, where she has been active on justice and equal rights, including gay rights, as well as European issues.

Sarah Ludford is now where she wants to be, as MEP for London. “I love London, as the diversity capital of Europe, with its dynamic economy, cosmopolitan mix and outward-looking temperament. London in Europe is a winning combination.”

Sarah is spokesperson for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group on the European Parliament's Justice & Home Affairs Committee. She is also on the Human Rights Committee and the delegations to South-East Europe and Cyprus. Sarah was the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the year 2000 on anti-racism and is a Vice-President of the Parliament’s anti-racism intergroup. Sarah is particularly involved in asylum and immigration matters, and is co-ordinator of the European Parliament’s Kurdish network and is currently vice-chair of a European Parliament temporary committee investigating CIA extraordinary rendition and allegations of “black site” prison camps.