Sharon Hodgson

Sharon Hodgson (born 1 April 1966) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Washington and Sunderland West since 2010. She was previously the MP for Gateshead East and Washington West.

Early life

Hodgson was born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear and was educated locally at Greenwell Junior High School and Heathfield Senior High School, where she obtained eight O-Levels. After school she worked as an accounts clerk in the Team Valley, then attended Newcastle College and the Trades Union Congress Academy in London.^[3]

Later she worked for Northern Rock in Gosforth, and then as a payroll and accounting clerk in various local companies. After becoming a full-time mother for a few years in the mid-1990s, and volunteering for the Labour Party in Stockton-on-Tees during the 1997 General Election, she became a party organiser in 1999. In 2000, she became the local Party organiser for two years in the Mitcham and Morden constituency, helping the sitting Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh to be re-elected at the 2001 General Election. Before becoming an MP herself, Hodgson worked as Labour Link Officer for UNISON.

She was elected for two years as the women's officer within the Tyne Bridge Constituency Labour Party (CLP) in 1998. In 2002 she was elected as the secretary of the Mitcham and Morden CLP in the London Borough of Merton.

Parliamentary career

In 2004 Hodgson was chosen as the Labour candidate for the 2005 General Election for Gateshead East and Washington West. Her selection followed the retirement of the sitting Labour MP Joyce Quin, and came about as a result of a controversial All-Women Shortlist.^[4] Hodgson held the seat with a majority of 13,407, and made her maiden speech on 25 May 2005.^[5]

Following boundary changes the seat of Gateshead East and Washington West has been abolished and replaced by two new seats, Gateshead and Washington and Sunderland West at the next General Election. David Clelland, the current MP for Tyne Bridge was chosen in December 2006 by Labour Party members to fight the new seat of Gateshead at the next election.

Following her defeat in Gateshead, Hodgson announced her intention to run for selection as the Labour Party candidate for the new Washington and Sunderland West seat in September 2007, and she was selected. She won the seat in the 2010 General Election.^[6]

In Parliament she has served on a number of select committees since her election in 2005, including the North East Regional Committee and the Children Schools and Families Committee. She has also served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Liam Byrne in the Home Office, Bob Ainsworth at the Ministry of Defence and Dawn Primarolo at the Department of Health. In June 2009 Hodgson was promoted to the position of assistant Government Whip.^{[citation needed]}

Back in opposition, the new Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, appointed her to the Shadow Children and Families Office in October 2010.^[7]

Personal life

She married Alan G. Hodgson in June 1990 in Gateshead. They have two children.

References