Nirj Deva, a Conservative MEP for the South East of England for the past 12 years, has served in both the U.K. and European parliaments and has spent over 20 years in public service. Nirj's work in international development led to his nomination for the post of secretary-general of the United Nations, to succeed Kofi Annan, in 2006. In 2014, Nirj was elected chair of the delegation for relations with the Korean peninsula and re-elected as the vice-chair of the European Parliament's Development Committee.