Stephen James Metcalfe (born 9 January 1966) is a Conservative Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

, who was first elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for South Basildon and East Thurrock in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...

. He has served as the chairman of the

Science and Technology Select Committee The Science and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The original Science and Technology Committee was abolished upon the creation of the Innovation, Universities, Sc ...

Early life and career

Before becoming an MP, Metcalfe worked in the family printing business. He stood unsuccessfully at the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in Ilford South at the 2005 general election. Metcalfe was an

Epping Forest District Epping Forest is a local government district in Essex, England. Situated in the west of the county, bordering northeastern Greater London, it is named after, and contains a large part of, Epping Forest. The district, though wholly within the cou ...

councillor and a portfolio holder for Customer Services, ICT & E-government until he stood down in order to concentrate on his campaign to be elected as an MP. As a councillor he campaigned on issues including green belt protection and the introduction of traffic calming schemes as well as working with communities to find ways of engaging the young.

Parliamentary career

Metcalfe gained the seat at the general election in May 2010, defeating Labour's Third Sector and

Social Exclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

minister Angela Evans Smith. In 2012, Metcalfe was named by Conservative Home as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions. He was subsequently one of 136 Conservative MPs to oppose the third reading of the Coalition's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. He has been a Vice-President of the House of Commons Debating Group.

Science and Technology in Parliament

Metcalfe sat on the

from 2010 to 2019. He chaired the Select Committee from 2016-2017, before the chair was handed over to the Liberal Democrats. Stephen is currently the chair of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (the

All-Party Parliamentary Group An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament. Description and functions All-party ...

for Science) under whose auspice Science in Parliament is published quarterly. Stephen is also co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Artificial Intelligence. Stephen is also a Director of the Community Interest Company (CIC) Big Bang Education. They organise the Big Bang Fair each year, an event to inspire young people into

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context o ...

(STEM). In 2017 Metcalfe was awarded for Services to Innovation from th
Institute of Innovation & Knowledge Exchange
In 2018 Metcalfe was appointed as the Government Envoy for the Year of Engineering and attended events all over the country promoting diversity in engineering under the strap line ‘Engineering, take a closer look’. In 2019 Metcalfe was appointed as an Honorary STEM Ambassador. In 2021 Metcalfe was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the

Institute of Engineering and Technology The Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow (IET, Lucknow) is a state government-funded technical institute in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a constituent college of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University (erstwhile Uttar ...

in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the engineering profession.

Personal life

Metcalfe is married to Angela, with whom he has two children. Metcalfe was educated at the

Davenant Foundation School Davenant Foundation School is a Christian Ecumenical secondary school, founded in 1680, currently in Loughton, Essex, England. History Foundation in Whitechapel In February 1680 the Reverend Ralph Davenant, rector of St Mary's Whitechap ...

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Ch ...

, where he still lives. Steven Metcalfe's secondary education from age 11-16 was at Loughton School (independent), in Loughton, Essex.

Awards

In November 2021 Metcalfe was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Institution of Engineering and Technology in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the engineering profession.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Stephen 1966 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 Politics of Thurrock Councillors in Essex UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present