Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP
Lab, Houghton and Sunderland South
Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities
Ministerial responsibilities and contact details
Secretary of State for Education
The Secretary of State is responsible for the work of the Department for Education, including:
- early years and childcare
- children’s social care
- teacher quality, recruitment and retention
- the school curriculum
- school improvement
- academies and free schools
- further education
- apprenticeships and skills
- higher education
Minister for Women and Equalities
The Minister for Women and Equalities has responsibility for:
- promoting equality of opportunity for everyone, and reducing negative disparities
- strategic oversight of the government’s equality policy, for women, ethnicity, disability and LGBT+
- overall sponsorship of the Social Mobility Commission and Equality and Human Rights Commission
- overview of the overarching equalities legislative framework
Profile
- Bridget Phillipson was described by Stephen Bush, political editor of the New Statesman as "one of Labour’s brightest MPs"
- In November 2021 she became Shadow Education Secretary in Keir Starmer's Shadow Cabinet and took on the government role in July 2024
- Her single mother was a member of the Labour Party and helped to found a local domestic abuse charity; she credits education with transforming her life
- Having taken drama lessons, Bridget Philipson was an extra on Byker Grove and learnt to play violin
- She was Co-Chair of the Oxford University Labour Club during her time reading Modern History at Hertford College
- She missed out on becoming baby of the House (the youngest MP) by 188 days to Pamela Nash when first elected in 2010
- In 2011 she called for the resignation of Ken Clarke, the Justice Secretary at the time, who suggested that some rapes were more serious than others
- In 2018, she along with other Labour MPs representing the Northern constituencies, wrote an article for the Independent putting the case for a second EU referendum, which at the time was not party policy
- Ms Phillipson was featured on a controversial website ranking female MPs by their appearance created by Made in Chelsea star Francis Boulle
- She attracted criticism from former No. 10 chief of staff, Nick Timothy, when she backed Jeremy Corbyn at the start of the 2019 general election despite telling him in 2016 that he was “not fit to be prime minister and you’ve got to resign”
- Later, she refused to be a part of Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet as she accused him of "a lack of self-reflection"
- She is a Catholic, stating that: "I’m not the world’s best Catholic, but once a Catholic always a Catholic...it shapes your values – and the school that I went to, what they instilled in all of us was that every one had value and worth and it was a really strong sense of social justice, and that matters to me in my politics"
- Grew up in council housing and was on free school meals as a child; she has also recalled that the house was repeatedly burgled
- Her husband works in financial services
Political
| Candidate Type | : | Lab hold |
|---|---|---|
| First Elected | : | 06/05/2010 |
| Councils and Public Bodies | : | Sunderland City Council 2005-2007 |
| Government Posts | : | Secretary of State for Education Jul 2024-; Minister for Women and Equalities Jul 2024- |
| Opposition/Party Positions | : | PPS to Jim Murphy (as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence) 2011-2013; Opposition Whip (Commons) Oct 2013-Sept 2015; Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury April 2020-Nov 2021; Shadow Secretary of State for Education Nov 2021-Jul 2024 |
| Previous Select Committees | : | Home Affairs Committee 2010-2013; Procedure Committee 2010-2011; Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission 2010-2017; Public Accounts Committee 2015-2017; Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission 2017-2019; Public Accounts Committee 2017-2019; Committee on Standards 2017-2019; Committee of Privileges 2017-2019; European Statutory Instruments Committee 2018-2019; Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission 2020-2020; Committee on Standards 2020-2020; Committee of Privileges 2020-2020; Public Accounts Committee 2020-2020 |
| Public Bill Committees | : | Session 2010-12: Finance Bill, Identity Documents Bill, Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill; Session 2012-13: Justice and Security Bill; Session 2013-14: Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill, Defence Reform Bill, Water Bill, Inheritance and Trustees' Powers Bill 2R Committee, Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Bill; Session 2014-15: National Insurance Contributions Bill 2014; Session 2016-17: Small Charitable Donations and Childcare Payments Bill, Bus Services Bill [Lords]; Session 2019-21: Finance Bill 2020 Committee |
Personal
| DoB and family | : | Married (Lawrence Dimery), two children |
|---|---|---|
| Education | : |
St Robert of Newminster Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Washington; BA Modern History, Hertford College University of Oxford (2005) |
| Previous career | : |
TV Extra, Byker Grove; Women's refuge manager, Wearside Women in Need 2007-2010 |
| Profession | : | Parliamentary and political staff; Charity and voluntary work; Local government staff or representative |
| Personal interests | : | Dog walking, history, music, reading |
Profile and Interviews
Bridget Phillipson: ‘I’m no Marxist, I just want better schools’ - The Times, 3 February 2025
Bridget Phillipson on her plan for the quiet revolution of education - Tes Magazine, 6 September 2024
The next chapter: Freddie Whittaker interviews Bridget Phillipson - Schools Week, 11 November 2024
Bridget Phillipson: Bullied at school and rotten windows - Labour's new education secretary - Sky News, 5 July 2024
Who is Bridget Phillipson? 8 facts about the new education secretary - Schools Week, 5 July 2024
Is Bridget Phillipson Labour’s rising star? - The Times, 11 Sept 2023
‘I grew up at the margins’: Bridget Phillipson on teachers’ strikes, Ofsted, Brexit and Corbyn - The Guardian, 21 Mar 2023
How Labour can win: Bridget Phillipson on childcare, Brexit and faith - The Spectator, 4 Mar 2023
Tes’ 10 questions with... Bridget Phillipson – TES, 1 Feb 2022
Labour’s Bridget Phillipson: ‘Life should not come down to luck’ – The Guardian, 29 Jan 2022
North East MP Bridget Phillipson's journey from free school meals to Labour education chief – Chronicle Live, 28 Dec 2021
The Bridget Phillipson Edition – Women with Balls podcast, 3 Dec 2021
Who is Bridget Phillipson? 8 facts about the new shadow education secretary – FE Week, 30 Nov 2021
Who is shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson? – Times Educational Supplement, 30 Nov 2021
Bridget Phillipson: “We can’t just have one more heave. That would potentially destroy the Labour party altogether” – House Magazine, 9 Jan 2020
Interview with Bridget Phillipson – History in Education, 8 Apr 2010
Contact
Parliamentary email address
Other Links
| Website | : | http://www.BridgetPhillipson.com |
|---|---|---|
| : | https://facebook.com/bridgetphillipson | |
| Twitter / X | : | @bphillipsonMP |
Registered Interests
1. Employment and earnings
Role, work or services: Speaking engagement
Payer: Labour North West (Labour North West regional party), Rutherford House, Floor 2, Suite 6B Warrington Road, Birchwood WA3 6ZH
(Registered 1 August 2024)
Payment: Provided with dinner after delivering a speech, value £500
Received on: 14 May 2024. Hours: 1 hr approx.
(Registered 1 August 2024)