Stephen Twigg

Stephen Twigg MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
In office 7 October 2011 – 7 October 2013
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Andy Burnham
Succeeded by	Tristram Hunt
Minister of State for Schools
In office 16 December 2004 – 5 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	David Miliband
Succeeded by	Jacqui Smith
Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Bob Wareing
Majority	18,467 (51.6%)
Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate
In office 1 May 1997 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Michael Portillo
Succeeded by	David Burrowes
Personal details
Born	(1966-12-25) 25 December 1966 Enfield, London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Co-operative
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Website	Stephen Twigg MP

Stephen Twigg (born 25 December 1966) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool West Derby since 2010. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate from 1997 to 2005, when he lost his seat. He came to national prominence in 1997 by winning the seat of then-Defence Secretary Michael Portillo. Twigg was made the Minister of State for School Standards in 2004, a job he held until he lost his seat in 2005.^[1] He returned to parliament in 2010, after he was elected Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby. Following Ed Miliband's election to the Labour leadership, he made Twigg a Shadow Foreign Office Minister. In his October 2011 reshuffle, Miliband promoted Twigg to the post of Shadow Secretary of State for Education.^[2][3] However on 7 October 2013 he was replaced in the reshuffle.^[4]

Early life

Twigg was educated at Grange Park Primary School and Southgate Secondary School, a local comprehensive school, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

He became the youngest and first openly gay president of the National Union of Students in 1990^[5] representing the National Organisation of Labour Students (NOLS). He was re-elected in 1991.

On leaving the NUS he became a councillor in the London Borough of Islington, and was also Chief Whip, and briefly Deputy Leader. He worked for the UK section of Amnesty International and then for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

MP for Enfield Southgate: 1997-2005

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 large 17.4% swing to him from his Conservative opponent, Michael Portillo. For many, Portillo (widely tipped to be the next Tory leader^[6]) losing his seat was the most iconic moment of the election; a book of the election by Brian Cathcart was titled Were You Still Up for Portillo? In the Royal Festival Hall in London, the scene of the Labour party celebrations that evening, the result elicited a massive cheer, as Portillo was not only a cabinet minister and was widely tipped as a future leader of the Conservative Party, but he was widely loathed among Labour supporters. Twigg was forced to give up his role as general secretary of the Fabian Society following this unexpected victory in what had been regarded as a safe Conservative seat. Twigg was the first man to be openly gay at the time of his election to the House of Commons when he was elected at the 1997 general election: it was a close contest for this record, as just 21 minutes later Ben Bradshaw, also openly gay, was elected for Exeter.

In the 2001 election Twigg held the seat with an increased majority of 5,546 over 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.

Whilst an MP he served as chairman of two All Party Parliamentary Groups—on epilepsy and on youth issues. He is a former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.

In the 2005 election, Twigg lost his seat to the Conservative Party candidate, David Burrowes, by a margin of 1,747 votes (a swing of 8.7%).^[7] During his concession speech, Twigg claimed that he would not be the last Labour MP for Enfield Southgate.

Non-parliamentary career: 2005-2010

On 12 December 2005, Twigg was arrested in central London for being drunk and incapable in a public place and taken to Marylebone police station. He paid a £50 fixed penalty notice. Twigg commented "I had had a lot to drink and I think it [the police action] was sensible. I have no complaints whatsoever. I take full responsibility for my actions."^[8]

Twigg became chairman of Progress, an independent organisation for Labour party members, and director of the Foreign Policy Centre, a think tank which develops long-term multilateral approaches to global problems. Twigg is the campaigns director of the Aegis Trust, in their educational and campaigning work against genocide. He is also a patron of the Workers Educational Association. He is a trustee of the Liverpool-based domestic violence charity Chrysalis.

MP for Liverpool West Derby: 2010-present

Twigg speaking in 2013

Twigg was selected as the Labour Co-operative candidate for the Liverpool West Derby constituency at the 2010 general election.^[9] He was elected with a majority of 18,467, garnering 64.1% of the vote.^[10]

In October 2010 he unsuccessfully contested the election for the Shadow Cabinet, coming in 36th out of the 49 candidates and winning 55 votes.^[11] He was subsequently appointed to the Labour front bench as a shadow minister in the Foreign Affairs team.^[12]

On 7 October 2011 he was appointed to the post of Shadow Secretary of State for Education, following the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle.^[3]

In the 2013 Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle, Twigg lost his position of Shadow Education Secretary^[13] and was demoted to the Shadow Justice Team as Shadow Minister for Constitutional Reform^[14]

References

External links

• Stephen Twigg MP official constituency website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Column archive at The Guardian
• Foreign Policy Centre
• Stephen Twigg at The Knitting Circle
• Television coverage of Twigg's defeat of Portillo in the 1997 general election