Born in Blackburn, UK (1947) and educated at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and London University (BA Hons) and Lancaster University (MA) and the University of West Berlin. Michael Hindley was an elected council leader in North West England, a Lancashire County Councillor and a Member of the European Parliament for three terms (1984-99). He was the Majority Leader on the Trade Committee (1989-99). From 1991-1995 he was responsible for relations with the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe.

Michael is a frequent lecturer on European politics, most recently at the Babes Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania and has been a columnist for “The Singapore Business Times” and “Frontline” newsmagazine, India. Michael Hindley has travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He speaks fluent German and French. He has a Polish wife and they have one daughter. The Hindleys live in Great Harwood, Lancashire and in Evian-les-Bains on the shores of Lake Geneva, France.

Michael Hindley now acts as a freelance political consultant for the European Community Commission, the Council of Europe, the United Nations and for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Michael also participates in election observation missions, most recently in Moldova in December 2010. In 2010 he acted as Senior Political Analyst for the UN’s International Trade Centre, Geneva on a major report on “Fair Trade”.