Stephanie Louise Peacock (born 1986) is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnsley South, previously Barnsley East, since 2017. She has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth since July 2024.[1]
Stephanie Peacock | |||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth | |||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 9 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stuart Andrew (Sport and Civil Society) Julia Lopez (Media) | ||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament for Barnsley South Barnsley East (2017–2024) | |||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michael Dugher | ||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 4,748 (13.5%) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1986 (age 37–38) Birmingham, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Queen Mary University of London (BA) University College London (MA) | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||
Early life and education
editStephanie Peacock was born in 1986 in Birmingham.[2][3] She obtained a degree in history from Queen Mary University of London, and a master's degree from the Institute of Education, University College London.[4]
Early career
editAfter graduating Peacock worked as a teacher, before going on to work on adult education in Yorkshire for the shop workers' union USDAW.[5]
Between 2007 and 2011, she served as the Youth Representative on the Labour Party National Executive Committee.[4] In 2007 she introduced Gordon Brown at the launch of his unopposed campaign to become Labour Leader.[6][7]
Between 2013 and 2017, she worked as a Political Officer for the GMB trade union.[8][9]
Parliamentary career
editAt the 2015 general election, Peacock stood as the Labour Party candidate in Halesowen and Rowley Regis, coming second with 36.2% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP James Morris.[10]
1st term (2017-2019)
editPeacock was elected to Parliament as MP for Barnsley East at the snap 2017 general election with 59.5% of the vote and a majority of 13,283.[11]
Her maiden speech occurred during a Grenfell Tower debate during which she mentioned the local issue of Orgreave.[12]
From January 2018 until March 2019 she served as an Opposition Whip.[13] She resigned on 14 March 2019 after defying the whip to vote against an amendment calling for a second Brexit referendum.[14]
In November 2018, Peacock, alongside fellow Women's Parliamentary Football teammates, Alison McGovern, Tracey Crouch, Louise Haigh and Hannah Bardell, was rebuked by the then Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, for having a 'kickabout' in the House of Commons after Parliamentary business. Bercow said that the "historic chamber should not be used for this type of activity".[15] The team had been due to play their first match, but the game was cancelled because they had to be in parliament for a vote.
2nd term (2019-2024)
editAt the 2019 general election, Peacock was re-elected as MP for Barnsley East with a decreased vote share of 37.6% and a decreased majority of 3,217.[16]
In January 2020 Peacock joined Labour's Shadow Cabinet Office team as the Shadow Minister responsible for the Veterans' Office and Procurement.[17] Following the election of Keir Starmer as the Leader of the Labour Party (UK), she was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Water and Flooding as part of Labour's Shadow Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs team.[18]
Peacock endorsed Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[19]
In February 2020, Peacock campaigned to change the maximum sentences for causing death by dangerous driving from fourteen years to life, as well as reforming the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme to get more money for retired miners.[20]
On 14 May 2021, Peacock was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Veterans following a reshuffle.[21]
3rd term (2024-)
editDue to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Peacock's constituency of Barnsley East was abolished, and replaced with Barnsley South. At the 2024 general election, Peacock was elected to Parliament as MP for Barnsley South with 46.7% of the vote and a majority of 4,748.[22][23]
Personal life
editIn 2013 it was reported that Peacock was in a relationship with Tom Watson, then Deputy Chair of the National Executive Committee.[24]
References
edit- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11778.
- ^ "Stephanie Peacock MP – Who is she?". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ a b "About Stephanie". Personal website. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^ "USDAW – Lifelong Learning Campaign". www.usdaw.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- ^ White, Michael (11 May 2007). "First impressions". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ Hoggart, Simon (18 May 2007). "Simon Hoggart's sketch". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ Bean, Emma (26 April 2017). "Councillor and GMB officer chosen for two Labour strongholds in Yorkshire". LabourList. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Langston, Kate (27 April 2017). "Labour select candidate for Barnsley East General Election seat". The Star. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election 2017: Barnsley East". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ "Maiden Speech". Stephanie Peacock for Barnsley East. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ "Stephanie Peacock MP". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (14 March 2019). "Brexit: MPs vote by 413 to 202 to extend article 50 until 30 June – Politics live". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
- ^ Nicholls, Sallyann (21 November 2018). "Female MPs shown red card after playing football in UK parliament". euronews. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Front bench role for Barnsley MP – Barnsley News from the Barnsley Chronicle". Barnsley Chronicle. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- ^ Peacock, Stephanie [@Steph_Peacock] (4 January 2020). "I'm proud to be supporting @lisanandy to be the next leader of the Labour Party. Lisa gets it – where we've gone wrong, what we need to do to put that right, and the importance of Labour reconnecting with working people in towns like ours here in Barnsley" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Family's struggle to get harsher sentences closer – Barnsley News from the Barnsley Chronicle". Barnsley Chronicle. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (14 May 2021). "Reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new Labour frontbench in full". LabourList. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Barnsley South results". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "UK Parliamentary general election – 4 July 2024". Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "MP Tom Watson finds new love after marriage comes to an end". Birmingham Live. 26 August 2012. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
External links
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