22 Facts About Bridget Phillipson

Bridget Maeve Phillipson was born on 19 December 1983 and is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities since July 2024.

Bridget Phillipson went on to study at the University of Oxford before working in local government and then as a manager at Wearside Women in Need.

Bridget Phillipson joined the Labour Party at the age of fifteen, and was elected the co-chair of Oxford University Labour Club in 2003.

Bridget Phillipson was elected to the House of Commons at the 2010 general election as MP for Houghton and Sunderland South.

Bridget Phillipson was reelected at the 2015 general election and campaigned to remain in the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Bridget Phillipson was reelected in both the 2017 and 2019 general elections.

Bridget Phillipson endorsed Keir Starmer's successful campaign in the 2020 Labour leadership election and subsequently joined his shadow cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Bridget Phillipson's mother is Clare Phillipson, who founded Wearside Women in Need, a charity based in Sunderland which provides refuge for women affected by domestic violence.

Bridget Phillipson grew up in a deprived part of Washington, in a council house with no upstairs heating.

Bridget 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 programme Byker Grove.

Bridget Phillipson attended St Robert of Newminster Catholic School in Washington, and went on to read modern history and modern languages at the University of Oxford, where she was a student at Hertford College, and graduated with upper second-class honours in 2005.

Bridget Phillipson joined Labour as a member at fifteen years old, and was elected co-chair of the Oxford University Labour Club in 2003.

Bridget Phillipson was selected from an all-women shortlist as the Labour candidate for Houghton and Sunderland South in 2009.

Bridget Phillipson was elected to the Home Affairs Committee in July 2010, and remained a member until November 2013.

Bridget Phillipson was a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014, and of the Procedure Committee between July 2010 and October 2011.

Bridget Phillipson has been a member of the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission since October 2010, and both the Committee on Standards and the Committee on Privileges since October 2017.

Bridget Phillipson was a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the European Statutory Instruments Committee.

Bridget Phillipson served in that role under successive Shadow Chancellors Anneliese Dodds and Rachel Reeves.

Bridget Phillipson 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.

Bridget 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.

Bridget Phillipson 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.

Bridget Phillipson met her husband in Newcastle upon Tyne after she graduated from the University of Oxford, and has two sons.