[2] She was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 4 June 2009 to 31 January 2020.

She was elected to the European Parliament in 2009, and re-elected in 2014; and in 2019, coming in second behind Nigel Farage of the Brexit Party with 25.75% of the vote.

[5] She was the second placed Liberal Democrat candidate for the European Parliament in the South East region of England.

In this capacity, she was also a member of the High-level Group on Gender Equality and Diversity and chairwoman of the Artistic Committee.

[14] In 2015, the European Parliament approved an amendment introduced by Bearder demanding immediate publication of existing inquiries into member states involvement in secret flights operated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and linked to "enhanced interrogations" conducted outside US territory, in particular the inquiry into UK involvement led by John Chilcot.