Sharon Hodgson was born on 1 April 1966 and is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West, previously Gateshead East and Washington West, since 2005.
13 Facts About Sharon Hodgson
2.
Sharon Hodgson previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, from May 2021 to March 2023, and has served in various front bench roles under Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.
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Sharon Hodgson was born in Gateshead, County Durham and was educated locally at Greenwell Junior High School and Heathfield Senior High School, where she obtained eight O-Levels.
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Sharon Hodgson later worked for Northern Rock in Gosforth, and then as a payroll and accounting clerk for local companies.
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Sharon Hodgson was elected for two years as the women's officer within the Tyne Bridge Constituency Labour Party in 1998.
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In 2004, Sharon Hodgson was chosen as the official Labour candidate for Gateshead East and Washington West at the 2005 general election.
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Sharon Hodgson's selection followed the retirement of the sitting Labour MP Joyce Quin, and came about as a result of an all-woman shortlist.
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Sharon Hodgson held the seat with a majority of 13,407 votes, and gave her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 25 May 2005.
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Sharon Hodgson was elected as the MP for that seat in the 2010 general election with a majority of 11,458.
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Sharon Hodgson has served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Liam Byrne in the Home Office, Bob Ainsworth at the Ministry of Defence and Dawn Primarolo at the Department of Health.
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In June 2009, Sharon Hodgson was promoted to the position of assistant Government Whip.
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Sharon Hodgson resigned from the role and supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.
13.
In Keir Starmer's first opposition frontbench, Sharon Hodgson was appointed Shadow Minister for Veterans.