A Lancastrian criminal defence lawyer this week became the fifth solicitor MEP and also the first elected ethnic minority Liberal Democrat parliamentarian.

Sajjad Karim was second on the party's list for the north-west region and a rise in the party's vote to 15.9% was enough to secure his election.

The 11.7% the Lib Dems polled in 1999 was enough for only one MEP in the region.

The four sitting solicitor MEPs were all re-elected: Conservatives Jonathan Evans (Wales), Timothy Kirkhope (Yorkshire and The Humber) and David Sumberg (north-west) - all of whom lost their seats at Westminster in 1997 - and Liberal Democrat Diana Wallis (Yorkshire and the Humber).

In London, barristers Theresa Villiers (Conservative) and Sarah Ludford (Liberal Democrat) were re-elected.

The other barrister MEP, Lord Inglewood (Conservative), did not stand again in the north-west.

Only one of Labour's reduced number of MEPs has a legal background.

Claude Moraes, re-elected in London, studied law but rather than pursuing a legal career, became director of legal assistance charity the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.

None of the UK Independence Party or Green MEPs is a lawyer.

Mr Karim, 33, helped set up Marsdens, a firm in Nelson, near Blackburn, in 2001, having previously worked his way up from trainee to partner at Steele Ford & Newton.

The son of a Conservative councillor, he has served as a Liberal Democrat on Pendle Borough Council.

He told the Gazette that his party's strong showing in the north-west was down to its commitment to putting the UK at the heart of Europe, along with its opposition to the Iraq war.

He said his priorities in the European Parliament would be regeneration for the north-west, civil liberties and human rights, and providing a voice for ethnic minorities.

Mr Karim will continue as a partner in his firm, although in a 'somewhat revised' role.

He specialises in serious fraud work.

Neil Rose