Stephen Hepburn

Stephen Hepburn
Official portrait, 2017
Member of Parliament for Jarrow
In office 1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019
Preceded by	Donald Dixon
Succeeded by	Kate Osborne
Personal details
Born	(1959-12-06) 6 December 1959 (age 64) Jarrow, County Durham, England, UK
Political party	Independent (October 2019-present)
Other political affiliations	Labour (until October 2019)
Alma mater	Newcastle University
Website	stephenhepburn-mp.org.uk

Stephen Hepburn (born 6 December 1959) is a British politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Jarrow from 1997 to 2019. Hepburn was a member of the Labour Party until 7 October 2019, when he was suspended from the party following an accusation of sexual harassment. He then sat as an independent and was barred by the party from standing as a Labour candidate.^[1]

Stephen Hepburn was born on 6 December 1959 to Peter and Margaret Hepburn^[2] in Jarrow, South Tyneside. He was educated at Springfield School, Jarrow (now Jarrow School) and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he studied politics. He worked as a personal assistant to Donald Dixon (MP for Jarrow).^[3]

He was elected as a councillor to South Tyneside Borough Council in 1985, becoming the deputy leader for seven years in 1990, and he remained a councillor whilst serving as an MP. Hepburn served as the chairman of Tyne and Wear Pensions for eight years from 1989. In the 1990s, he was fined £75 for an assault on fellow councillor Iain Malcolm.^[4]

He was elected to the British House of Commons for Jarrow following Dixon's retirement at the 1997 general election.^[5] Hepburn won the seat with a majority of 21,933. He made his maiden speech on 21 May 1997, in which he mentioned Ellen Wilkinson and the 1936 Jarrow March.^[6]

He served on both the administration and the defence select committees for four years from 1997.^{[citation needed]} He was on the Accommodation and Works Committee from 2003 until the 2005 general election, following which he served on the Northern Ireland select committee. He also served as the chairman of the all party group on shipbuilding and ship repair, and was secretary of the all party group on football.^{[citation needed]}

On 7 October 2019, Hepburn was suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation into alleged sexual harassment of a female party member in 2005. He denied the allegation.^[7]

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou