Andrew Stephenson

Andrew Stephenson (born 17 February 1981) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pendle in Lancashire since the 2010 general election. Formerly a borough councillor in Macclesfield, he worked as an insurance broker before becoming an MP.

Early life and education

Stephenson was born in 1981 in Manchester. He was educated at Poynton High School, a state-funded school, before going on to study at Royal Holloway College, University of London,^[2] where he graduated with a degree in Management Studies in 2002.^[3]

Stephenson became an active member of the Conservative Party at the age of 16.^[4] He served two terms on the National Executive of Conservative Future and was the organisation's National Deputy Chairman from 2001 to 2002. He was also the Chairman of the Conservative Future Society at Royal Holloway, University of London, from 1999 to 2001.

Prior to being elected to Parliament, Stephenson worked as a self-employed insurance broker, running a small business in Greater Manchester.^[5]

Career

Stephenson was a councillor for Macclesfield Borough Council from 2003 to 2007.^[2] Originally elected aged 23, he was one of the first council "Youth Champions" in the country.^[6] Stephenson was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Pendle in September 2006.^[2] He was a member of the Conservative Party's A-List,^[7] a pool of candidates drawn up by party HQ with the intention of diversifying its MPs and MEPs. During his campaign at the 2010 general election, he was accused by the then-sitting Labour Party MP, Gordon Prentice, of trying to buy the constituency with funding from tax exile Lord Ashcroft.^[4] In the election on 6 May 2010, Stephenson won 17,512 votes (38.9% of the total votes), defeating Prentice by a majority of 3,585 votes.^[8] In doing so, he became the first Conservative to represent Pendle in the House of Commons since John Lee in 1992. Upon winning the ballot, Stephenson said that he was "absolutely delighted by the result" and "humbled to become Pendle's MP".^[8]

On 28 July 2010, Stephenson was appointed Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, with responsibility for youth.^[6]

Stephenson was involved in setting up an All Party Parliamentary Group for Water Safety and Drowning Prevention in 2014 following the accidental death of one of his constituents.^[9]

He signed several early day motions in support of the funding of homeopathy on the National Health Service sponsored by Conservative MP David Tredinnick.^[10]

Stephenson attracted headlines in 2011 when he intervened to support a train ticket inspector during a dispute with youths over an unpaid fare.^[11]

References

External links

• Andrew Stephenson website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou