Stephen Twigg

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Stephen Twigg (born December 25, 1966) is a British politician and former Labour Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate.

Contents 1 Early life 2 1997 Election 3 2001 Election 4 2005 Election 5 Further Details

[edit] Early life

He was educated at Southgate comprehensive, where he once clashed with the local Conservative MP Michael Portillo, and at Balliol College, Oxford.

He became the youngest and first openly gay president of the National Union of Students in 1990 representing the National Organisation of Labour Students. In 1991 he was reelected, despite failing to get his nomination for the postion in before the deadline; this forced NOLS delegates to vote to re-open nominations at the NUS Conference. The subsequent election was only able to take nominations from the floor of conference, but despite having a large number of oponents, many of whom stood to register their unhappiness at this process, Twigg easily won the ballot.

On leaving the NUS he was a councillor in the London Borough of Islington.

He is former Chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.

[edit] 1997 Election

In the 1997 election he was elected to Parliament for Enfield Southgate, the constituency in which he had been born and raised, with a majority of 1,433. There had been a massive 17.8% swing to him from his Conservative opponent, Michael Portillo. For many Labour supporters, this was the most iconic moment of the election; in the Festival Hall in London (the scene of the party celebrations that evening), this evoked a massive cheer. Portillo was not only a cabinet minister, he was widely tipped as a future leader of the Conservative Party. Twigg was forced to give up his role as general secretary of the Fabian Society following an unexpected victory in what was regarded to be a safe Conservative seat.

[edit] 2001 Election

In the 2001 election he held the seat with an increased majority of 5,546, second place going to Conservative John Flack. Following the 2001 election, Twigg was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the House of Commons, Robin Cook, and in 2002 became a junior minister in the Department for Education and Skills. In 2004, in the government changes following the resignation of David Blunkett, he was promoted to Minister of State for school standards.

[edit] 2005 Election

In the 2005 election, Twigg lost his seat to the Conservative Party candidate, David Burrowes, by a margin of 1,747 votes. This was a surprise loss for the Labour Party, much in same way as the seat was won from the Conservatives in 1997. During his concession speech, Twigg claimed that he would not be the last Labour MP for Enfield Southgate.

[edit] Further Details

He was the first gay man to be out at the time of their election to the House of Commons when he was elected at the 1997 General Election, in that regard it proved a close contest for just 21 minutes later Ben Bradshaw, also openly gay, was elected in Exeter.

Twigg is currently Chair of Progress, an independent organisation for Labour party members, and Director of the Foreign Policy Centre, a think tank with offices in London and Beijing which develops long-term multilateral approaches to global problems. Twigg also contributes weekly to the Aegis Trust, in their educational and campaigning work against genocide.

Twigg is currently a governor of Jubilee Primary School in Brixton, south London; a trustee of the Workers Education Association and Chair of the Young People Now Foundation. He is an Executive member of the Fabian Society.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Michael Portillo	Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate 1997–2005	Succeeded by David Burrowes
Other Offices
Preceded by Maeve Sherlock	President of the National Union of Students 1990–1992	Succeeded by Lorna Fitzsimons