Sharon Bowles was appointed to the House of Lords in 2015 and is a member of the Economic Affairs Committee. In the House of Lords as well as serving on the Economic committee. She served on the special public bill committee for the Intellectual Property (unjustified threats) Bill and has contributed to debates and legislation concerning financial services, corporate governance, criminal finances and the UK withdrawal from the EU.

She was a member of the European Parliament from 2005 to 2014 and Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee from 2009 – 2014, negotiating 60 pieces of legislation including chairing all the ‘trialogue’ meetings between Parliament, Council and the Commission. She became internationally listed as one of the most influential people in financial services regulation and as the UK’s most influential person in Brussels. In 2012 she was shortlisted for Governor of the Bank of England. Sharon was also influential on the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee covering topics of corporate governance, accounting, audit and intellectual property.

Sharon founded her own practice as a Chartered and European Patent Attorney in 1981 which became the Bowles Horton partnership in 1986, predominantly specialising in electronics, semiconductor fabrication and communication systems. She became a member of the European Parliament in 2005 and had an immediate impact on intellectual property matters although her main duties were on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee which she went on to chair from 2009-2014. She was a major international influence in post crisis financial services legislation and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2015. Sharon served on the special public bill committee for the Intellectual Property (unjustified threats) Bill.

Sharon has an academic background in science and mathematics and professional qualification as a European Patent Attorney.