[1] She was chair of Mansfield Constituency Labour Party and a member of Nottinghamshire County Council for the Leeming and Forest Town division from 1989 to 1993.

[3][better source needed] On 1 January 2006, she replaced Phillip Whitehead as a member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands following his death.

In September 2014, she was appointed rapporteur for changes to medical devices legislation primarily triggered by scandals involving PIP breast implants and 'metal-on-metal' hip replacements.

She was critical of Cameron's proposed reforms to the EU, including changes to legislation on workers' rights, product standards and environmental protections.

[14] Following the UK's vote to leave the EU, Willmott has argued that if the deal reached during the Brexit negotiations leads to extensive deregulation and weakening of social and workers' rights, then Labour should oppose it.

[15] In the aftermath of the referendum result, she wrote a letter on behalf of the EPLP to Jeremy Corbyn calling for his resignation as Leader of the Labour Party after a party briefing document appeared to promote the work of Kate Hoey and Gisela Stuart, two key MPs in the rival Labour Leave campaign.