On 9 September 2025,Phillipson put her name forward as a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. She gained nominations from 175 Labour MPs to go through to the next round against Lucy Powell following the close of nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party on 11 September 2025. Labour Party members will be eligible to vote for one of the two candidates from 8 October,with the results announced on 25 October 2025.[2][3]
Early life and education
Bridget Maeve Phillipson[4] was born on 19December 1983 in Gateshead,Tyne and Wear,England.[1] Her mother is Clare Phillipson,who founded Wearside Women in Need,a charity based in Sunderland which provides refuge for women affected by domestic violence.[5][6][7][8][9] She grew up in a deprived part of Washington,in a council house with no upstairs heating.[10]
After university,she returned to the North East.[15] She worked for two years in local government at Sunderland 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]
Parliamentary career
Backbencher
Phillipson was selected from an all-women shortlist as the Labour candidate for Houghton and Sunderland South in 2009.[17] At the 2010 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 to Jim Murphy,who was then the shadow defence secretary.[19] Between October 2013 and September 2015,she served as Opposition Whip in the House of Commons.[20]
At the 2015 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 the 2016 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 snap 2017 general election,with an increased vote share of 59.5% and a decreased majority of 12,341.[29][26] At the 2019 general election,Phillipson was again re-elected,with a decreased vote share of 40.7% and a decreased majority of 3,115.[30]
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 of Ofsted,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 existing Apprenticeship Levy.[43]
Secretary of State for Education (2024–present)
Following the Labour landslide victory in the 2024 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 5July.[44][45] She was appointed Minister for Women and Equalities on 8July,with Anneliese Dodds as her junior minister.[46]
During the 2024 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 told ITN that she had accepted free Taylor Swift tickets,because "it was a hard one to turn down... one of my children was keen to go".[49]
After the treasury 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 MP Graham 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]
Political positions
Constituency campaigns
Phillipson has campaigned successfully on a number of local issues,including forcing a government U-turn on the rebuilding of Hetton School in Hetton-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 in Tyne and Wear,calling for the development of a quality contract scheme to be run by Nexus,the passenger transport executive for the North East Combined Authority.[53] The government-appointed review board eventually refused permission for Nexus to advance the scheme.[54]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
