Making the EU more accountable

Graham Watson MEP wants to make the European Parliament more accountable to the public that elects it. Graham is leader of the 100-strong Liberal and Democrat group and is the first MEP ever to publicly state that he wants to be President of the European Parliament.

It's a job a little like Speaker of the House of Commons but more involved in managing the business of Parliament. The post is filled after each election (this year that is on 4th June) - usually for 2.5 years by a socialist MEP and 2.5 years by a Conservative. Graham is trying to break the cosy consensus and become the first Brit since Conservative Lord Plumb over 20 years ago, and the first ever British Liberal to be President.

Graham has already blazed a trail for openness with his weekly diary sent out by email and more recently his video blog. Now we can sign up to follow Graham on Twitter, which I've just done, or subscribe to his Page on Facebook.