Andrew Stephenson


Andrew George Stephenson is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Pendle in Lancashire since 2010. Prior to his parliamentary career, he was a local councillor and insurance broker.

Early life and career

Stephenson was born on 17 February 1981 in Manchester, England to Malcolm and Ann Stephenson. He attended Poynton High School in Cheshire. Stephenson then did a degree in Management Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, graduating in 2002.
He joined the Conservative Party at the age of 16. Stephenson 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's Conservative Future society, from 1999 to 2001. Stephenson climbed the Great Wall of China in September 2008, having raised more than £5,000 for charity.
After graduating from university, Stephenson worked as an insurance broker and later partner at Stephenson & Threader, a family run business that he took over from his father.

Political career

Stephenson was a councillor for Macclesfield Borough Council from 2003 to 2007. At the age of 25, he became the chair of the Tatton Conservative association, the youngest person to lead a local Conservative association. He was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Pendle in September 2006. Stephenson was a member of the party's A-List.
His campaign was partly funded by businessman Michael Ashcroft.
He was elected in the general election of 2010, with a majority of 3,585 votes. The seat had been previously held by Labour MP Gordon Prentice since 1992. Stephenson was re elected in the general elections of 2015 and 2017. Stephenson delivered his maiden speech on 17 June 2010. He was appointed Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, with responsibility for youth, on 28 July 2010.
Stephenson proposed a Private member's bill on 28 June 2011, to create a right of appeal against Crown Court decisions allowing bail, following the murder of one of his constituents by a man on bail. An amendment to the Lords to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which allowed for prosecutors to appeal against such decisions was approved, in February 2012.
On 14 June 2011, Stephenson led a parliamentary debate on new regulations requiring energy performance certificates for holiday lettings and argued for holiday lets to be exempt from them under certain conditions. The government subsequently announced exemptions for holiday lettings. In February 2013, he voted for the Marriage Act 2013, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
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 was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary, to Robert Halfon Minister without Portfolio and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party in 2015. Stephenson later also became the PPS to Minister of State for Security John Hayes, and Minister of State for Policing Mike Penning. In July 2016, he became the PPS to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
After the general election of 2017, he was selected as an Assistant Government Whip by Prime Minister Theresa May. In July, Stephenson received death threats. A man was convicted of these offences in January 2018. Stephenson was promoted to Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury in the January 2018 cabinet reshuffle and then became Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in July.
From January 2018 to May 2019, he served on the Selection Committee. From April to July 2019, he was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State. In July after Boris Johnson became prime minister, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development.
He voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. Stephenson voted for May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in January 2019. In the indicative votes on 27 March, he voted against a referendum on a withdrawal agreement.
Stephenson voted for Johnson's withdrawal agreement in October. Stephenson retained his seat in the general election of 2019, and was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Transport in February 2020, with a brief to oversee the development of the railway project High Speed 2.