Today Stephen was appointed as the Shadow Secretary of State for Education. He will be responsible for the Opposition’s policy on Education. Stephen served as a Schools Minister in the Government of 2001- 2005. Following his appointment today Stephen said: “Education is my passion, so I was absolutely delighted to have been appointed as the [...]

Stephen wrote to The Times expressing his deep concern at the Government’s proposed changes to the system for registering voters. See Stephen’s letter below. Sir, Last week the Chair of the Electoral Commission briefed a small, cross-party group of MPs on the Government’s proposed changes to the system for registering voters. The Government has committed [...]

Yesterday in a debate in the House of Commons, Stephen urged the Government to maintain a face-to-face provision for career advice in schools, arguing that good careers guidance is an essential ingredient of social mobility. Raising concerns that the Government would risk losing the best features of the current system of careers advice if it [...]

Today in the House of Commons, Stephen called on the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, to remove bureaucracy preventing local communities from closing public footpaths that become hot beds for anti-social behaviour. Raising the case of The Aspes Road and Leyfield Lane footpath, Stephen argued that government rules and bureaucracy should not prevent local communities from [...]