Stephen Doughty

Stephen John Doughty (born 15 April 1980) is a Welsh Labour Co-op politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff South and Penarth since 2012. He has served as Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories since July 2024.

Early life and education

Stephen Doughty was born on 15 April 1980 in Cardiff, with his family moving to the Vale of Glamorgan when he was young. After attending Llantwit Major Comprehensive School, he was awarded a scholarship to study at Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada. While a student at UWC Pearson, he served as a member of British Columbia Youth Parliament.

He went to university at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from which he graduated with an upper second-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Whilst at Oxford, Doughty was a member of an all-male singing group, Out of the Blue. He also studied at the University of St Andrews.

Career

After time spent working in Denmark, Doughty returned to the UK, where he became an advisor to Labour MP Douglas Alexander. He then worked in various roles for Oxfam International, before becoming the head of Oxfam Cymru in 2011.

From 2004 to 2009, Doughty was a trustee of the British section of United World Colleges.

Doughty and his father had been long-time family friends of Cardiff South and Penarth Labour MP Alun Michael. Michael said, "Stephen Doughty’s father and I first met 40 years ago when I was a youth worker and he was involved with an Army youth group. I have known Stephen since he was a baby." After Michael's intervention Doughty's name was included in the final short list along with four other candidates, Kate Groucutt, Karen Wilkie, Nick Thomas-Symonds and Jeremy Miles. Doughty was selected in a vote by constituency Labour Party members on 14 July 2012.

Parliamentary career

At the 2012 Cardiff South and Penarth by-election, Doughty was elected to Parliament as MP for Cardiff South and Penarth with 47.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,334. Doughty made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 28 November 2012.

In January 2013, Doughty was appointed to the Labour Shadow Treasury team as an aide to Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

2015 Parliament

Doughty was re-elected as MP for Cardiff South and Penarth at the 2015 general election with a decreased vote share of 42.8% and an increased majority of 7,453.

Following Iain Wright's election as the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee chair, Doughty succeed him in the Shadow BIS team as the Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry in a June 2015 mini-reshuffle.

In October 2015, he was moved to a position as a Shadow Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Africa, South Asia and International Organisations, under Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn.

In December 2015 Doughty supported air strikes against Syria, a decision for which he was criticised by many of his constituents and political activists via social media. He called the police to deal with the "personal threats" he had received.

He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.

Resignation from frontbench

In January 2016, Doughty announced that he had resigned as a shadow Foreign Minister on the live '' Daily Politics'' programme, saying that he supported the sacked Pat McFadden's views on terrorism and accusing members of the Labour leadership team of lying about the reasons for McFadden's sacking. According to McFadden, he was sacked for comments in the debate on the Paris bombings which condemned "the view that sees terrorist acts as always being a response or a reaction to what we in the west do".

Doughty's appearance on ''Daily Politics'' became contentious after it emerged that Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC's political editor, had arranged for Doughty to make his public announcement on the programme just before Prime Minister's Questions. According to Labour's spokesman, it was an "unacceptable breach of the BBC's role and statutory obligations. By the BBC's own account, BBC journalists and presenters proposed and secured the resignation of a shadow minister on air ... apparently to ensure maximum news and political impact." The Labour Party's Director of Communications, Seumas Milne, made a formal complaint to the BBC. The BBC's head of live political programmes, Robbie Gibb, wrote to Milne: "Neither the programme production team, nor Laura, played any part in his decision to resign. As you know it is a long standing tradition that political programmes on the BBC, along with all other news outlets, seek to break stories. It is true that we seek to make maximum impact with our journalism which is entirely consistent with the BBC’s editorial guidelines and values." Doughty said on Twitter that he had resigned "shortly before I did the interview so there was not time for spin doctors to start smearing me".

2017 Parliament

At the snap 2017 general election, Doughty was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 59.5% and an increased majority of 14,864.

2019 Parliament

He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 54.1% and a decreased majority of 12,737.

Doughty endorsed Keir Starmer in his successful campaign in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.

Starmer appointed Doughty Shadow Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, responsible for Africa and international development.

In May 2021, Doughty apologised for asking a constituent to provide him with diazepam, a Class C-controlled drug, without a prescription for anxiety ahead of a flight in 2019. South Wales Police did not take further action because they determined that the allegation he possessed a controlled substance "cannot be proved in these circumstances". The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards ruled in October 2021 that he had not broken the MPs' code of conduct. The constituent who was cautioned for supplying the diazepam complained to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, who asked South Wales Police to re-examine the case in May 2022. They announced in December 2022 that they stood by their original decision.

Labour in Government

Doughty was again re-elected at the 2024 general election with a decreased vote share of 44.5% and a decreased majority of 11,767. Shortly after he was appointed Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

As Foreign Office Minister Stephen has criticised the government of Georgia over its crackdown on free speech and LGBT rights, saying that it is 'clear that the direction of the Georgian Dream party risks undermining freedom of expression and assembly and further discriminating against and stigmatising Georgia's LGBT+ community, including through the introduction of the ''Law on Family Values, and that he has raised 'concerns over recent legislative changes' with the Georgian Foreign Minister Darchiashvili.

Personal life

Doughty lives in the Splott area of Cardiff. He has been a Cub and Scout leader since 2004, and is a Cardiff City season ticket holder. He features in the List of leading Welsh LGBT figures. Doughty is a Christian. He came out as gay to family and friends in his late 20s.

Notes

References

External links

Official website

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Doughty, Stephen
1980 births
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
British special advisers
Labour Co-operative MPs for Welsh constituencies
LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Living people
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cardiff constituencies
Oxfam people
People educated at a United World College
People from Llandaff
Politicians from Cardiff
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–2024
UK MPs 2024–present
Welsh gay politicians
Welsh Labour MPs
Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East