Chris Stephens

Christopher Charles Stephens (born 20 March 1973)[1] is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South West since the 2015 general election. He has been serving as SNP Spokesperson for Justice and Immigration since September 2023.[2][3]

For other uses, see Chris Stephens (disambiguation).

Chris Stephens
MP
Official portrait, 2019
SNP Justice and Immigration Spokesperson in the House of Commons
Assumed office
4 September 2023
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byStuart McDonald
SNP Spokesperson for Levelling Up in the House of Commons
In office
10 December 2022 – 4 September 2023
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byPatricia Gibson
Succeeded byAnum Qaisar
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow South West
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byIan Davidson
Majority4,900 (13.3%)
Personal details
Born
Christopher Charles Stephens

(1973-03-20) 20 March 1973
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
SpouseAileen Colleran
Websitewww.chrisstephens.scot

Early life and career

Stephens was born in Glasgow and was educated at Trinity High School, Renfrew and James Watt College in Greenock, where he studied public administration.[4] He joined the SNP at the age of sixteen.[5]

He completed an apprenticeship at Strathclyde Regional Council before working at the council. Stephens then worked for the Glasgow City Council. During this time, he joined the trade union UNISON. Initially Stephens was their youth officer in Glasgow and was later promoted in that branch to treasurer and then vice-chair.[6]

Political career

He first stood for the UK Parliament at the 2001 General Election, contesting the Hamilton North and Bellshill constituency. He contested the Glasgow Pollok constituency at the 2007 and 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. In 2011 he came within 623 votes of taking the seat from Johann Lamont.

Stephens was 6th on the list of SNP candidates for the six Scottish seats in the 2014 European Parliament election,[7] although as only the first two SNP candidates were elected, Stephens was not elected.[8]

He was elected to the UK Parliament in 2015, winning the contest for the Glasgow South West constituency with a majority of 10,000.[9] Before the election, Stephens was the secretary of the SNP Trade Union Group,[10] a member of the party's National Executive Committee,[11] and the convener of the SNP's Glasgow Pollok Constituency Association. In 2017, he retained his seat by a margin of just 60 votes.[12]

Stephens is a vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on South Africa[13] and Chair of the Public and Commercial Services Union Parliamentary Group.[14]

In October 2016, Stephens was reported to have signed the highest number of Early Day Motions of any Member of Parliament.[15]

In March 2018, it was reported that he attempted to make two members of staff in his constituency office redundant, subsequently suspending them from employment, generating criticism from members of his own party.[16]

Personal life

Stephens is married to Aileen Colleran, a former Labour councillor elected to Glasgow City Council until 2017. He employed his wife as a part-time parliamentary assistant from August 2017 to 30 April 2018.[17]

References
  1. "Chris Stephens MP". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  2. SNP, the (10 December 2022). "The real opposition: meet your new SNP Westminster Frontbench". Scottish National Party. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  3. "SNP announces frontbench reshuffle at Westminster". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  4. "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs". The Herald. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  5. Nutt, Kathleen (11 June 2015). "Meet your new Scottish MPs: #23 Chris Stephens, Glasgow South West". The National. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. Bircham, Josh (13 November 2015). We Are The 56: The individuals behind a political revolution. Cargo Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-910449-52-3.
  7. "Hudghton and Smith to stand for SNP at European Parliament elections". STV News. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  8. "European Parliament, Elections Scotland, Statement of Parties and Individual Candidates Nominated and Notice of Poll, 2014" (PDF). 24 April 2014.
  9. "Election 2015: Glasgow South West: Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  10. Paterson, Stewart (23 February 2015). "SNP hope yes factor can win in South West". Evening Times. Newsquest. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  11. Stephens, Chris (14 November 2014). "Chris Stephens: Trade union value in SNP future". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  12. "The Scottish seats with the narrowest majorities". www.scotsman.com. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  13. "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 12 October 2016: South Africa". www.publications.parliament.uk. The Committee Office, House of Commons. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  14. "Document Summary - PCS". www.pcs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  15. Ottewell, David (18 October 2016). "I second that motion: SNP MPs falling over themselves to register support for worthy causes". dailyrecord. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  16. "MP campaigning for workers' rights is in bitter dispute with his own staff". The National. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  17. "House of Commons - The Register of Members' Financial Interests (16 July 2018: Stephens, Chris)". parliament.uk. House of Commons. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
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