Andrew Stephenson has been the Conservative MP for Pendle since 2010, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 6,186.
The constituency of Pendle is found to the east of Lancashire bordering Yorkshire, alongside the M65 motorway and the Leeds to Liverpool canal. Once at the centre of the textiles industry, this is now a predominately commuter area, although the Rolls Royce plant in Barnoldswick is also a major local employer. The seat covers a rural area interspersed with a number of small towns such as Nelson, Colne, and Barnoldswick, and Earby.
Pendle frequently sees very close election results, and this is one of the UK’s most notable marginal seats, having been won by the Conservatives between 1983 and 1992, by Labour between 1992 and 2010, and by the Conservatives since 2010. Some 63% of voters backed Brexit here in the 2016 EU referendum.
Since February 2020, Stephenson has been Minister of State at the Department of Transport. He is responsible for the HS2 project.
Stephenson previously served in the Government as a Government Whip between 2017 and 2019. In 2019 he was made Under Secretary of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. He then served as Minister of State at the Foreign Office between 2019 ad 2020.
As a backbencher he brought forward a Private Members Bill that looked to provide a right of appeal against Crown Court bail decisions following the murder of one of his constituents. The law was ultimately changed with greater safeguards in 2012.
Born in 1981, Stephenson was educated at London University. Before being elected to Parliament he was a self-employed insurance consultant running a small business in Greater Manchester.
He was a Councillor on Macclesfield Borough Council between 2003 and 2007.
Stephenson likes cooking and was once a contestant on Junior Master Chef in his younger days.
He was also formerly the national Deputy Chairman of Conservative Future, the party’s youth wing between 2001 and 2002.
Stephenson supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
Email: andrew.stephenson.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.pendleconservatives.com
Twitter: twitter.com/Andrew4Pendle/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/andrew4pendle?fref=ts
