Stephen Hesford

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Stephen Hesford
honorific-suffix =

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constituency_MP = Wirral West
parliament =
majority = 1,097 (2.7%)
predecessor = David Hunt
successor = Incumbent
term_start = 1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1957|05|27|df=yes
birth_place = Lowton St Mary's
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University of Bradford, University of Westminster
occupation =
profession =
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website =
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Stephen Hesford (born 27 May 1957) is a British politician and the Labour Member of Parliament for Wirral West.

Early life

Stephen Hesford was born in Lowton St Mary's, near Leigh, Lancashire and was educated at the Urmston Grammar School and the University of Bradford where he was awarded a BSc in Social Science in 1978. He went on to study at the Polytechnic of Central London and earned his LLM in 1980. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1981 and worked as a criminal law barrister in Altrincham, Cheshire until his election to parliament. He was reprimanded by the Bar Council for cancelling court appearances due to his unexpected election.

Parliamentary career

He worked as an assistant to the Labour MP for Eccles Joan Lestor for a year in 1992. He unsuccessfully contested Suffolk South at the 1992 General Election where he finished in third place some 18,170 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP and then junior environment minister Tim Yeo. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for the Merseyside seat of Wirral West when he defeated the former Cabinet minister David Hunt by 2,738 votes, and he has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on 3 July 1997, in which he recalled a constituency predecessor and former Commons Speaker Selwyn Lloyd. [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmhansrd/vo970703/debtext/70703-24.htm#70703-24_spnew0]

In parliament he served as a member of the Northern Ireland select committee for two years from 1998, and also spent two years from 1999 as a member of the health select committee. He was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords Valerie Amos from the 2005 General Election until September 2006.

Personal life

He married Elizabeth Anne Henshall in July 1984 in Macclesfield and they have two sons (born September 1986 and March 1988). He is a member of both the Fabian Society and the Lancashire County Cricket Club.

External links

* [http://www.stephenhesfordmp.co.uk Stephen Hesford] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2387,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Stephen Hesford MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/stephen_hesford/wirral_west TheyWorkForYou.com - Stephen Hesford MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/636.stm BBC Politics]