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 2010.

Stephenson was born on 17 February 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, where he graduated with a degree in Management Studies in 2002.

Stephenson became an active member of the Conservative Party at the age of 16. 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 Royal Holloway Conservative Future Society, 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.

Stephenson was a councillor for Macclesfield Borough Council from 2003 to 2007. Originally elected aged 23, he was one of the first council "Youth Champions" in the country.

Stephenson was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Pendle in September 2006. He was a member of the Conservative Party's A-List, a pool of candidates drawn up by the party headquarters, 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.

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. 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". Prentice later announced he wouldn't stand in Pendle in the next election, stating he was now a private citizen.

Stephenson delivered his maiden speech on 17 June 2010, in a debate on building a high skilled economy. He was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, with responsibility for youth on 28 July 2010. On 12 October 2010, Stephenson led an adjournment debate in Parliament on the murder of three of his constituents – the Yousaf family – who were killed in Pakistan on 20 May 2010, in which he criticised the Pakistani legal system for allowing the suspects to be released on bail.

Stephenson proposed a Private Members Bill, to create a right of appeal against Crown Court decisions allowing bail, following the murder of his constituent Jane Clough by a man on bail. The Prime Minister subsequently confirmed that a government amendment in the Lords to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill would introduce the new right of appeal that Stephenson had proposed.

Stephenson has also successfully challenged specific business regulations, after concerns were raised with him by Pendle businesses. On 14 June 2011, Stephenson led a Westminster Hall debate, on new regulations requiring energy performance certificates for Holiday Lettings. The government subsequently announced exemptions for holiday lettings. In November 2014, he challenged proposed changes to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.

Stephenson was involved in setting up an All Party Parliamentary Group for Water Safety and Drowning Prevention in September 2014, following the accidental death of one of his constituents. He signed several early day motions in support of the funding of homoeopathy on the National Health Service, sponsored by Conservative MP David Tredinnick.

Stephenson attracted headlines in June 2011, when he intervened to support a train ticket inspector during a dispute with youths over an unpaid fare. In the 2015 General Election, Andrew Stephenson was re elected, with an increased majority of 5,453, polling 20,978 votes, 47.2% of the votes cast, the largest Conservative share of the vote ever in this constituency.

Following his re election, Andrew Stephenson was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS), to the Rt. Hon. Robert Halfon MP, Minister without Portfolio & Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. In addition to acting as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, in March 2016, Andrew Stephenson was appointed to also act as PPS to the Rt. Hon Mike Penning MP (Minister for Policing, Fire and Criminal Justice and Victims) and the Rt. Hon John Hayes MP (Minister for Security), replacing Chris White MP.

When Theresa May became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the resignation of David Cameron, Andrew Stephenson MP was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Boris Johnson, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. Stephenson supported Brexit in the 2016 European Union Referendum