Sharon Hodgson was first elected as the Labour Party MP for Washington and Sunderland in 2005 being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 3,723.
The constituency of Washington and Sunderland West is found to the south of Tyne and Wear, and includes the west of the city of Sunderland and the New Town of Washington. The Nissan car plant is a well known and significant employer in this part of the North East. A former mining area, this is traditionally safe Labour territory. However with 62% of the locals supporting Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum, and the Brexit Party polling close to 15% of the vote in 2019, the Labour majority was cut considerably in this seat at the last election.
Sharon Hodgson is currently the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer.
Hodgson served as Shadow Minister for Veterans between 2020 and 2021, having been Shadow Minister for Public Health between 2016 and 2020.
Hodgson was an assistant government whip between 2009 and 2010 in the last Labour government.
Born in 1966, Hodgson has lived in Tyne and Wear all her life. She previously worked as an administrator and book-keeper for the Northern Rock building society. She then worked for “Total Learning Challenge”, a North East charity providing early intervention for children at risk of dropping out of education and their communities. Finally before becoming an MP, Hodgson was Unison’s Labour-Link Co-ordinator, responsible for managing the relationship between the Labour Party and the union.
Hodgson backed Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour leadership election. She had previously supported Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge to Jeremy Corbyn.
Hodgson previously introduced a private members bill to Parliament which successfully became the Special Educational Needs (Information) Act of 2008. The Act strived to improve the outcomes of children with Special Educational Needs by ensuring that the Government collects and publishes information on their progress annually.
Hodgson is type 2 diabetic, and has talked openly in the past about her own battles with weight.
Sharon Hodgson is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Art, Craft and Design in Education; Dyslexia and Other Specific Learning Difficulties; Music; Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME); Ovarian Cancer; School Food; and Ticket Abuse.
She is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Wine and Spirits; the Armed Forces Covenant; Baby Loss; Basketball; Breast Cancer; British Jews; Conception to Age Two; Craft; Dance; Electric Vehicles; First Do No Harm; Food and Drink; Food and Health; Food Banks; Hormone Pregnancy Tests; Infant Feeding and Inequalities; Music Education; the National Food Strategy; Performing Arts Education; Premature and Sick Babies; Sport; Surgical Mesh; Video Games and Esports; Tidy Britain; Wine and Spirits; and Textiles and Fashion.
She is married with two children, and employs her husband as an Office Manager.
Email: hodgsons@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.sharonhodgson.org
Twitter: @SharonHodgsonMP
