Stephen Hesford


Stephen Hesford is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Wirral West from 1997 to 2010. Since leaving Parliament he has become a guest lecturer at the University of Chester.

Early life

Hesford was born in Lowton St Mary's, near Leigh, Lancashire and was educated at the Urmston Grammar School and the University of Bradford where he was awarded a BSc in Social Science in 1978. He went on to study at the Polytechnic of Central London and earned his LLM in 1980. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1981 and worked as a criminal law barrister in Altrincham, Cheshire until his election to Parliament.

Parliamentary career

He worked as an assistant to Joan Lestor, Labour MP for Eccles, in 1992 and also contested that year's General Election in South Suffolk where he finished in third place, 18,170 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP and junior environment minister Tim Yeo. He was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for Wirral West when he defeated the former Cabinet minister David Hunt by 2,738 votes. He made his maiden speech on 3 July 1997, in which he recalled a constituency predecessor and former Speaker Selwyn Lloyd.
In parliament, Hesford served as a member of the Northern Ireland select committee for two years from 1998, and also spent two years from 1999 as a member of the health select committee. He was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the House of Lords Valerie Amos from the 2005 General Election until September 2006, and was PPS to Vera Baird until Sept 2009 when he resigned in protest against Baroness Scotland remaining in government.
During his time as Labour MP for Wirral West, he was known for helping over constituents around the surrounding areas, such as Wirral South and Birkenhead. He helped 37 year old, Donna and 3 boys find a home in neighbouring Prenton.
On 23 January 2010, Hesford announced that he would not stand at the 2010 general election.

Personal life

He married Elizabeth Anne Henshall in 1984 in Macclesfield and they have two sons. He is a member of both the Fabian Society and the Lancashire County Cricket Club.