Labour Party MP for Washington and Gateshead South.
A steady party loyalist whose constituency office was torched in a suspected arson attack in September 2025 — an incident that generated significant national coverage and drew cross-party solidarity. A man was arrested, and Hodgson publicly committed to continuing her work undeterred. Since then, her parliamentary activity has focused on backing government legislation: in June 2026 she voted with Labour to oppose amendments to both the Armed Forces Bill and the National Security (State Threats) Bill, including voting against provisions that would have added judicial oversight safeguards to the latter.
Her voting participation sits at 66% — below the Commons average — and she has not once broken with her party across all recorded votes, making her a 100% party-line voter. Her stance profile flags two notable patterns: she scores just 15% on parliamentary scrutiny measures and 17% on civil liberties votes, reflecting consistent support for government positions over opposition amendments on oversight and rights. She diverges from her Labour colleagues most sharply on child welfare, voting in that direction 28 percentage points more often than the party average, and on welfare expansion more broadly. Health and social care dominate her speeches, accounting for well over half of her 139 contributions across 58 debates — a focus that predates her current term and reflects a long-standing personal interest in cancer care policy.
Hodgson has held Washington and Gateshead South since 2005 and currently sits on no select committees. News coverage over the past 90 days is sparse beyond the arson story; recent sentiment data returns a neutral average, suggesting limited proactive media engagement. Debate excerpts for several of her recent votes are unavailable, limiting precise analysis of her positions on specific Armed Forces Bill clauses.
Mrs Sharon Hodgson is the Labour MP for Washington and Gateshead South, and has been an MP continually since 5 May 2005. She currently holds the Government post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care).
Top eight by total divisions voted, this parliament. Volume measures engagement, not direction — see Notable Votes for free-vote moments and rebellions.
Source · The Public Whip · Hansard
Moments where the whip was free, or where Hodgson broke ranks. Free votes are the truer signal of personal stance.
No rebellions or free votes recorded yet.
Source · Hansard
“Announced CVD modern service framework with 12 priority action areas; detailed existing programmes (health checks, statins, anticoagulants); committed to school food reform and obe…”
“Health Minister: acknowledged the petition's merits but held that policy must follow robust evidence; confirmed AgeX trial results expected 2027, noted concerns over false positive…”
“The government is taking action through clinical guideline development (autumn 2026), research initiatives, local authority guidance, and NHS system reforms to improve awareness, i…”
“The government welcomes SMA screening and has brought the trial forward to October 2026, but national decisions on screening programmes must be made with care, requiring robust evi…”
Bluesky is the only social platform we ingest at the row level. The strip below is computed by classifying each post for substance (vs reposts, social mentions, scheduling) and then by tone (critical / measured / supportive) per target.
Hodgson holds no select-committee seat this session. New 2024-intake MPs typically wait one term before being appointed.
| Department | Qs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Social Care | 69 | 47.6% |
| Department for Education | 16 | 11.0% |
| Treasury | 11 | 7.6% |
| Home Office | 9 | 6.2% |
| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 8 | 5.5% |
| Department for Business and Trade | 6 | 4.1% |
| Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | 6 | 4.1% |
| Department for Transport | 4 | 2.8% |
Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of social media age restrictions on young people accessing illegal platforms.
The government keeps this issue under close consideration . The Online Safety Act places robust duties on in-scope services to prevent children from encountering illegal content and activity.We are shortly launching a consultation exploring…read full →
Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the whether social media age restrictions on platforms headquartered overseas would be enforceable.
The Online Safety Act has extraterritorial effect, meaning any regulated service with a significant number of UK users is required to meet duties wherever they are based.Where an organisation breaches its duties, Ofcom can require it to tak…read full →
Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that young people from all regions, including the North East, are represented in consultations on online safety and Al regulation.
We will ensure that young people from across the country, including the North East are represented in consultations.We are shortly launching a consultation exploring children’s use of technology to understand how they can be protected and h…read full →
How his Department plans to ensure that the NHS Genomic Medicine Service’s pipeline of whole genome sequencing for cancer patients is unconstrained by local tissue storage practices; and whether there is a target date for ensuring consistent access across all NHS regions.
As part of the evolving NHS Genomic Medicine Service infrastructure, a new delivery model will be in place from April 2026 to deliver the genomics commitments in the 10-Year Health Plan, the National Cancer Plan, and other national strategi…read full →
British Recorded Music Industry 16 October 2025 |
Royal Albert Hall 15 October 2025 |
LACA Ltd 8 July 2025 to 10 July 2025 |
Director and Trustee of the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union. This is an Director and Trustee of the British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union. This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 13 November 2024
Date in… |
Director and Trustee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (UK Branch). Director and Trustee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (UK Branch). This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 16 October 202… |
Source · Members API · Last amended 4 Nov 2025
| Category | £ | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Staffing | 224,704 | 79.6% |
| Accommodation | 23,609 | 8.4% |
| Office Costs | 22,977 | 8.1% |
| MP Travel | 8,541 | 3.0% |
| Staff Travel | 2,587 | 0.9% |
| Total · 113 claims | 282,418 | 100% |
Source · IPSA · FY 24_25
Nothing tabled for Hodgson on the published Order Paper this week.
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Share | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Washington and Gateshead South | 17,682 | 47.8% | Won |
| 2019 | Washington and Sunderland West | 15,941 | 42.5% | Won |
| 2017 | Washington and Sunderland West | 24,639 | 60.7% | Won |
| 2015 | Washington and Sunderland West | 20,478 | 55.0% | Won |
| 2010 | Washington and Sunderland West | 19,615 | 52.5% | Won |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon HodgsonWON | Lab | 17,682 | 47.8 |
Showing the MP’s own row only. Full result table: see Washington and Gateshead South →