Belinda Pyke obituary

Belinda Pyke died aged 73 after a life focused on improving others’ lives. She moved from early trade union activities into senior roles within the European Commission, working in the cabinets of European commissioners including Stanley Clinton-Davis, Bruce Millan, and Neil Kinnock. She served as lead cabinet staff member for Kinnock, then became director for equality in the directorate-general of employment. In 2011 she was appointed director for migration and borders, later retiring in 2017. Born in Wirral, she studied international relations and sociology, worked at the British Council administering study awards, and later joined a maritime officers association as a research officer. She chaired the Brussels Labour party for 14 years and campaigned for overseas Britons’ voting rights. After retirement she supported AIACE-UK and continued personal travel and family traditions.

"In Brussels she worked in the cabinets of Stanley Clinton-Davis, European commissioner for transport (1985-89), Bruce Millan (regional policy, 1989-95), and Neil Kinnock, who was responsible for transport until 1999 then vice-president of the commission until 2004. For Kinnock she was lead cabinet staff member. Belinda then worked as director for equality in the directorate-general of employment, before being appointed director for migration and borders in 2011."

"Born in Wirral, Belinda was the youngest of the three children of Audrey (nee Smith), a teacher, and Jim Pyke, a bookmaker. After Upton Hall convent school, Belinda studied international relations at the University of Sussex (1973), then did a diploma in sociology at Warwick University (1975). Her first job was at the British Council in Edinburgh, administrating study awards for postgraduates from developing countries; she left there in 1980 to join the Merchant Navy and Airline Officers' Association (later Numast) as a research officer."

"It was thanks to her work on shipping policy that she was asked to join the cabinet of Clinton-Davis. Belinda also chaired the Brussels Labour party for 14 years and campaigned for the right of overseas Britons to vote in national elections. In retirement from her final post as director for migration and mobility in 2017, she worked with the association of former EU staff, AIACE-UK, for which she was a regional convener and co-editor of its journal."

"From her early trade union activities to her role as a senior official in the European Commission, and as an inexhaustible human rights campaigner, she poured the same passion, professionalism and commitment into everything she did. In Brussels she worked in the cabinets of Stanley Clinton-Davis, European commissioner for transport (1985-89), Bruce Millan (regional policy, 1989-95), and Neil Kinnock, who was responsible for transport until 1999 then vice-president of the commission until 2004."

Read at www.theguardian.com