Stephen Hepburn


Stephen Hepburn 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.

Early life

Stephen Hepburn was born on 6 December 1959 to Peter and Margaret Hepburn in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear. He was educated at Springfield School, Jarrow and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where he studied politics. He worked as a personal assistant to Donald Dixon.

Early career

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

Parliamentary career

He was elected to the British House of Commons for Jarrow following Dixon's retirement at the 1997 General Election. 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.
He served on both the administration and the defence select committees for four years from 1997. He served on the Accommodation and Works Committee for 2003 until the 2005 General Election, since when he has served on the Northern Ireland select committee. He also serves as the chairman of the all party group on shipbuilding and ship repair, and is secretary of the all party group on football.
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.