Gordon Henderson was first re-elected as the Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey in 2010, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 24,479.
The constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey is found in north Kent on the southern banks of the Thames. It is a largely working class seat which includes the town of Sittingbourne on the Kent mainland. Separated by the River Swale, it then includes the Isle of Sheppey, and its port of Sheerness.
The Isle of Sheppey itself contains three prisons, HMP Elmley, HMP Swaleside, and HMP Standford Hill. This is a far less affluent constituency than most others in Kent. It is a typical marginal seat which typically votes with the government of the day, having won by the Labour Party between 1997 and 2010, but held by the Conservatives since 2010.
In March 2023, Mr Henderson who will be 76 at the next general eleciton, announced that he would be standing down from the Commons at the next election.
Gordon Henderson was born in the Medway Towns in 1948. He left school at 16 to work for Woolworths as a stockroom assistant in Chatham. He stayed for 15 years and became a senior store manager.
After leaving Woolworths, Henderson ran his own restaurant in South Africa, became a senior contracts officer for GEC Marconi in Rochester and then a director of the Unwins Wine Group.
Before becoming an MP, he was Operations Manager for Beam UK, a manufacturer of alcoholic based gifts.
A former Councillor, he has twice been the deputy leader of Swale Borough Council and was also a Kent County Councillor, during which time he sat both on the Education Committee and the Kent Police Authority.
Mr Henderson was a supporter of Brexit in the 2016 referendum. He is a member of the European Research Group of Conservative MPs.
In 2016, Henderson was seriously hurt after sustaining substantial burns in an accident in which he poured petrol on his bonfire.
Henderson has three children and is a supporter of Gillingham Football Club. He lives on the Isle of Sheppey.
Email: gordon.henderson.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.gordonhendersonmp.org.uk
Twitter: @ghendersonmp
Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/gordonhendersonmp
