Sharon Hodgson
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Washington and Sunderland West
Gateshead East and Washington West (2005–2010)
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byJoyce Quin
Majority3,723 (9.9%)
Chair of the Finance Committee
Assumed office
7 March 2023
Preceded byNick Brown
Assistant Government Whip
In office
10 June 2009 – 6 May 2010
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
2021–2023PPS to the Opposition Leader
2020–2021Veterans
2016–2020Public Health
2015–2016Children and Families
2013–2015Women and Equalities
2010–2013Children and Families
2010–2010Whip
Personal details
Born (1966-04-01) 1 April 1966
Gateshead, County Durham, England
Political partyLabour
EducationNewcastle College
Websitewww.sharonhodgson.org

Sharon Hodgson (born 1 April 1966) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Washington and Sunderland West, previously Gateshead East and Washington West, since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she has chaired the Finance Committee since 2023.

Early life

Hodgson was born in Gateshead, County Durham and was educated locally at Greenwell Junior High School and Heathfield Senior High School, where she obtained eight O-Levels. After leaving school, she worked as an accounts clerk in the Team Valley, then attended Newcastle College and the Trades Union Congress Academy in London.[1]

Hodgson later worked for Northern Rock in Gosforth, and then as a payroll and accounting clerk for local companies. After being 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 campaign, 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 her election to Parliament, 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 official Labour candidate for Gateshead East and Washington West at the 2005 general election. Her selection followed the retirement of the sitting Labour MP Joyce Quin, and came about as a result of an all-woman shortlist.[2] Hodgson held the seat with a majority of 13,407 votes, and gave her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 25 May 2005.[3]

Following boundary changes, the constituency of Gateshead East and Washington West was abolished and replaced by two new seats, Gateshead and Washington and Sunderland West at the 2010 general election. David Clelland, then MP for Tyne Bridge, was chosen in December 2006 by Labour Party members to become the candidate for the Gateshead constituency at the next general election.

Following her failure to be selected for the Gateshead seat, 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 was elected as the MP for that seat in the 2010 general election with a majority of 11,458.[4]

In Parliament, she has served on several 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.[5]

In opposition, the then Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband, appointed Hodgson to the Shadow Children and Families Office in October 2010.[6] She resigned from the role and supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[7] Three months later, in October 2016, she was appointed the Shadow Minister for Public Health.[8] In Keir Starmer's first opposition frontbench, Hodgson was appointed Shadow Minister for Veterans. In May 2021 Starmer appointed Hodgson his parliamentary private secretary.[9]

Affiliations and views

Hodgson is a vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel.[10][11]

Personal life

Hodgson is married to Alan Hodgson, who she employed as a Parliamentary caseworker.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Westminster dream of a working class girl". Darlington and Stockton Times. 5 July 2004. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "All-women shortlists" (PDF). House of Commons Library. 21 October 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Economy and Welfare Reform". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 25 May 2005. col. 803–806. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "Washington & Sunderland West". BBC News. 6 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Mrs Sharon Hodgson MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Labour Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  7. ↑ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  8. ↑ Price, Daniel (11 October 2016). "Wearside MP Sharon Hodgson 'honoured' after returning to shadow cabinet – three months after resigning". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Stewart, Heather (14 May 2021). "Keir Starmer appoints northern MP to build bridges with backbenchers". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "MPs flock to support Labour Israel group". The Jewish Chronicle. 22 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Harpin, Lee (7 August 2019). "Dame Louise Ellman becomes new Labour Friends of Israel chair". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "The Register of Members' Financial Interests: Part 2". House of Commons. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012.
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