Stephen Hepburn

Stephen Hepburn (born 6 December 1959) is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Jarrow from 1997 to 2019. Hepburn was a member of the Labour Party until 7 October 2019, when he was suspended from the party following an accusation of sexual harassment. He then sat as an independent and was barred by the party from standing as a Labour candidate.[1]

Stephen Hepburn
Hepburn in June 2017
Member of Parliament
for Jarrow
In office
1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byDonald Dixon
Succeeded byKate Osborne
Personal details
Born (1959-12-06) 6 December 1959
Jarrow, County Durham, England, UK
NationalityBritish
Political partyIndependent (October 2019-present)
Other political
affiliations		Labour (until October 2019)
Alma materNewcastle University
Websitestephenhepburn-mp.org.uk

Early life

Stephen Hepburn was born on 6 December 1959 to Peter and Margaret Hepburn[2] in Jarrow, County Durham. He was educated at Springfield School, Jarrow (now Jarrow School) and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he studied politics. He worked as a personal assistant to Donald Dixon (MP for Jarrow).[3]

Early career

He was elected as a councillor to the South Tyneside Borough Council in 1985, becoming the deputy leader for seven years in 1990, and he has remained a councillor whilst serving as an MP. He served as the chairman of the Tyne and Wear Pensions for eight years from 1989. In the 1990s Hepburn was fined £75 for an assault on fellow councillor Iain Malcolm.[4]

Parliamentary career

He was elected to the British House of Commons for Jarrow following Dixon's retirement at the 1997 General Election.[5] Hepburn won the seat with a majority of 21,933. He made his maiden speech on 21 May 1997, in which he mentioned Ellen Wilkinson and the 1936 Jarrow March.[6]

He served on both the administration and the defence select committees for four years from 1997. He served on the Accommodation and Works Committee for 2003 until the 2005 General Election, since when he has served on the Northern Ireland select committee. He also serves as the chairman of the all party group on shipbuilding and ship repair, and is secretary of the all party group on football.

On 7 October 2019, Hepburn was suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation into alleged sexual harassment of a female party member in 2005. He denied the allegation.[7]

References
  1. "General Election 2019: Labour bans three former MPs from standing again". BBC News. 6 November 2019.
  2. "Hepburn, Stephen". UK Who's Who.
  3. "Jarrow election candidate profiles". The Journal. 12 April 2010.
  4. McSmith, Andy (11 May 2001). "Blair aide heads for safe seat as David Clark quits". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  5. "Stephen Hepburn". 22 October 2002.
  6. Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (21 May 1997). "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 21 May 1997 (pt 7)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2016.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "Stephen Hepburn: Labour MP suspended amid sexual harassment inquiry". BBC News. 7 October 2019.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Don Dixon		 Member of Parliament for Jarrow
1997–2019		 Succeeded by
Kate Osborne
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