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Bridget Phillipson | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_2.jpg) Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||
| Secretary of State for Education | |||||||||
| Assumed office 5 July 2024 | |||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Gillian Keegan | ||||||||
| Minister for Women and Equalities | |||||||||
| Assumed office 8 July 2024 | |||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Kemi Badenoch | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Member of Parliament forHoughton and Sunderland South | |||||||||
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Constituency established | ||||||||
| Majority | 7,168 (17.9%) | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | Bridget Maeve Phillipson (1983-12-19)19 December 1983 (age 42) Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England | ||||||||
| Party | Labour | ||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||
| Education | St Robert of Newminster Catholic School | ||||||||
| Alma mater | Hertford College, Oxford (MA) | ||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||
Bridget Maeve Phillipson (born 19 December 1983) is a British politician who has served asSecretary of State for Education andMinister for Women and Equalities since July 2024. A member of theLabour Party, she has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forHoughton and Sunderland South since 2010.[1]
Born inGateshead, Phillipson attendedSt Robert of Newminster Catholic School. She went on to study at theUniversity of Oxford before working in local government and then as a manager at Wearside Women in Need. Phillipson joined the Labour Party at the age of fifteen, and was elected the co-chair ofOxford University Labour Club in 2003. She was elected to theHouse of Commons at the2010 general election as MP for Houghton and Sunderland South. She was reelected at the2015 general election and campaigned to remain in theEuropean Union (EU) in the2016 Brexit referendum. She was reelected in both the2017 and2019 general elections.
Phillipson endorsedKeir Starmer's successful campaign in the2020 Labour leadership election and subsequently joined hisshadow cabinet asShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In theNovember 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was promoted toShadow Education Secretary. After Labour's victory in the2024 general election, Phillipson was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities in theStarmer cabinet.
On 9 September 2025, Phillipson put her name forward as a candidate for thedeputy leadership of the Labour Party. She gained nominations from 175 Labour MPs to go through to the next round againstLucy Powell following the close of nominations from theParliamentary Labour Party on 11 September 2025. Powell defeated Phillipson on 25 October.[2][3]
Bridget Maeve Phillipson[4] was born on 19 December 1983 inGateshead,Tyne and Wear, England.[1] Her mother is Clare Phillipson, who founded Wearside Women in Need, a charity based inSunderland which provides refuge for women affected bydomestic violence.[5][6][7][8][9]
Phillipson's mother signed her up for Saturday morning drama lessons at the local community centre, which led to her being an extra on the children's TV programmeByker Grove. She also learnt to play the violin.[10] She attendedSt Robert of Newminster Catholic School, astate school in Washington.[11] She went on to read modern history and modern languages (French) atHertford College,University of Oxford, before specialising in history for her final exams.[12] She joined Labour as a member at fifteen years old,[13] and was elected co-chair of theOxford University Labour Club in 2003.[14] She graduated withupper second-class honoursBachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 2005;[12] her BA was promoted to aMaster of Arts (MA Oxon) degree.[11]
After university, she returned to the North East.[15] She worked for two years inlocal government atSunderland City Council,[11][16] She was then a manager at Wearside Women in Need, the charity her mother founded, between 2007 and 2010.[1][7]
Phillipson was selected from anall-women shortlist as the Labour candidate forHoughton and Sunderland South in 2009.[17] At the2010 general election, Phillipson was elected as MP for Houghton and Sunderland South with 50.3% of the vote and a majority of 10,990.[18] After entering parliament, she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary toJim Murphy, who was then the shadow defence secretary.[19] Between October 2013 and September 2015, she served as Opposition Whip in theHouse of Commons.[20]
She was elected to theHome Affairs Committee in July 2010, and remained a member until November 2013. She was a member of thePublic Bill Committee for theDefence Reform Act 2014, and of theProcedure Committee between July 2010 and October 2011.[21] She has also been a member of theSpeaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission since October 2010, and both the Committee on Standards and the Committee on Privileges since October 2017. She was a member of thePublic Accounts Committee and theEuropean Statutory Instruments Committee.[22] From 2010 to 2015, she was secretary to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Domestic and Sexual Violence, which published the report "The Changing Landscape of Domestic and Sexual Violence Services" in February 2015.[23][24]
At the2015 general election, Phillipson was re-elected as MP for Houghton and Sunderland South with an increased vote share of 55.1% and an increased majority of 12,938.[25][26]
In the2016 Brexit referendum, she campaigned for a Remain vote, and in 2018 was one of the first Labour MPs to call for a referendum on any eventual deal with the EU.[27][28]
She was again re-elected at the snap2017 general election, with an increased vote share of 59.5% and a decreased majority of 12,341.[29][26] At the2019 general election, Phillipson was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 40.7% and a decreased majority of 3,115.[30]
In Labour Party leadership elections, she voted forDavid Miliband in2010,[31]Yvette Cooper in2015,[32]Owen Smith in2016,[33] andKeir Starmer in2020.[34]
At the2024 general election, Philipson was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 47.1% and an increased majority of 7,169.[35]
FollowingKeir Starmer'sleadership election victory in April 2020, Phillipson was appointed to theShadow Cabinet for the first time, asShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.[36] She served in that role under successiveShadow ChancellorsAnneliese Dodds andRachel Reeves. On 29 November 2021 she was moved to the role ofShadow Secretary of State for Education, responsible for Labour's education policy in England.[37]
As shadow secretary of state for education, Phillipson set out Labour's plans for reform of the childcare and wider education systems, starting with plans for funded breakfast clubs for every primary school child in every school in England.[38] She called for reform ofOfsted, the inspectorate of school standards in England, to move away from simplistic one-word summary overall judgements,[39][10][16] the imposition of VAT on private schools to fund thousands more teachers in England's schools, a full curriculum and assessment review, including a focus on weaving speaking and listening skills through the curriculum, new incentives to retain teachers in the classroom, two weeks' worth of compulsory work experience for all young people, and improved access to careers guidance and mental health in schools.[40][non-primary source needed]
She spoke and wrote extensively about the particular importance of childcare for children, parents and families, and the need for a system that stretches from the end of parental leave to the end of primary school.[16][41] She confirmed that the next Labour government would not abolish tuition fees altogether,[42] and called for far-reaching changes to the skills system in England, including the creation of a new body to be called 'Skills England', devolution of skills and adult education budgets, and greater flexibility with the existingApprenticeship Levy.[43]
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Following the Labour landslide victory in the2024 general election, Phillipson was appointed as the Secretary of State for Education by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the lead-up to the formation of the next government on 5 July.[44][45] She was also appointedMinister for Women and Equalities on 8 July, withAnneliese Dodds as her junior minister.[46] Phillipson was sworn of thePrivy Council on 10 July 2024, entitling her to be styled "The Right Honourable" for life.[47]
During the2024 Labour Party freebies controversy,Sky News reported that Phillipson had received a £14,000 gift from Lord Alli.[48] At the 2024 Labour Party Conference, Phillipson toldITN that she had accepted freeTaylor Swift tickets, because "it was a hard one to turn down... one of my children was keen to go".[49]
After thetreasury minister,James Murray, rejected calls to delay the introduction of VAT on private school fees in October 2024, Phillipson was criticised by multiple MPs after she posted on X "Our state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery. Our children need mental health support more than private schools need new pools. Our students need careers advice more than private schools need AstroTurf pitches." Conservative MPGraham Stuart described her post as "malicious and spiteful", and called for an apology. Opposition whip,Luke Evans, said the post "reeks of prejudice and propagates a class war” and shadow treasury minister,Nigel Huddleston, said of it "Parents who send their children to independent schools, who pay twice on their children’s education, deserve better than to be treated with contempt by their government’s education secretary.[50]
Phillipson has campaigned successfully on a number of local issues, including forcing a government U-turn on the rebuilding ofHetton School inHetton-le-Hole, after plans to do so were cancelled by the Conservative-led government in 2010.[51] The school was eventually rebuilt and reopened in 2016.[52]
She also led a campaign to improve standards and affordability of bus transport inTyne and Wear, calling for the development of a quality contract scheme to be run by Nexus, thepassenger transport executive for theNorth East Combined Authority.[53] The government-appointed review board eventually refused permission for Nexus to advance the scheme.[54]
AsMinister for Women and Equalities, in April 2025 Phillipson said thattrans women should not use women's toilets.[55] This was in response to a UK Supreme Courtruling on the definition of man and woman in theEquality Act.
Phillipson was previously listed as a supporter ofLabour Friends of Israel,[56] though the group no longer discloses which MPs are members.[57]
According toDeclassified UK, the pro-Israel lobby has donated £60,000 to Phillipson and the "pro-Israel tycoon, former hedge fund manager Stuart Roden" has donated "£80,000 supporting the office costs of Phillipson and [Lisa]Nandy".[58]
Phillipson met her husband, Lawrence,[59] inNewcastle upon Tyne after she graduated from theUniversity of Oxford,[60] and they married in 2009.[11] They have two children.[11][13] She is aRoman Catholic.[61]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forHoughton and Sunderland South 2010–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Education 2021–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Education 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Minister for Women and Equalities 2024–present | |
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