Bridget Phillipson

Bridget Maeve Phillipson (born 19 December 1983) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Houghton and Sunderland South since 2010. Born in Gateshead, Phillipson attended St Robert of Newminster Catholic School. She went on to study at the University of Oxford before working in local government and then as a manager at Wearside Women in Need. Phillipson joined the Labour Party at the age of fifteen, and was elected the co-chair of Oxford University Labour Club in 2003. She was elected to the House of Commons at the 2010 general election as MP for Houghton and Sunderland South. She was reelected at the 2015 general election and campaigned to remain in the European Union (EU) in the 2016 Brexit referendum. She was reelected in both the 2017 and 2019 general elections. Phillipson endorsed Keir Starmer's successful campaign in the 2020 Labour leadership election and subsequently joined his shadow cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In the November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was promoted to Shadow Education Secretary. After Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Phillipson was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities in the Starmer cabinet. On 9 September 2025, Phillipson put her name forward as a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. She gained nominations from 175 Labour MPs to go through to the next round against Lucy Powell following the close of nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party on 11 September 2025. Powell defeated Phillipson on 25 October.