Stephen Day to stand again

Stephen was born in Otley, Yorkshire, in 1948. He attended Westgate Infants and Junior School, then Otley Secondary Modern School. His family came from East Yorkshire originally, his father being born in Kingston-upon- Hull, and his grandparents being married in Driffield Church. As a teenager Stephen worked one summer holiday on refuse collection and another as a deck hand on a Bridlington pleasure steamer!

He started work in 1965 as a Sales Clerk at the Otley stationery manufacturers of William Sinclair & Sons and by the time he left in 1974 he was Assistant Sales Manager, with experience of both home and export markets. Whilst on day release and night classes, Stephen qualified in 13 business subjects whilst taking the Institute of Export course at Park Lane College, Leeds and Leeds Polytechnic. He became a Graduate Member of the Institute in 1972.

He carried on his career in Sales with the Hunting Group (1974-84), PPL Chromacopy (Manchester)(1984-86) and Chromagene (Leeds) (1986-87) before entering Parliament as the Conservative MP for Cheadle in 1987 when he moved to Cheadle Hulme, where he still lives. He currently runs his own Public Affairs Consultancy based at home.

His interests include music, history, films and following Rugby Union. Over the years Stephen has been spotted at concerts as diverse as Eric Clapton or La Boheme. He regularly attends home games at Manchester RUFC in Cheadle Hulme, and Sale Sharks RUFC. He is an active Rotarian, being a member of Bramhall & Woodford Rotary.

He is also President of Cheadle Hulme Royal British Legion and a Trustee or Patron of a number of local charities. Stephen takes a great interest in local Social Clubs, being a member of the Conservative Clubs in both Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme. He is also a member of Cheadle Hulme Royal British Legion Club. He is currently national Chairman of the Association of Conservative Clubs, (ACC) and national President of the Council of Registered Club Associations which looks after the interests of non-commercial Clubs of all descriptions.

Stephen's Experience

Stephen has held office at all levels of the Conservative Party, including Branch, Constituency, European Constituency and Area. He was an Otley Town Councillor from 1979-83, taking a seat from the Liberals, and a Leeds City Councillor from 1975-80, which he also took from the Liberals.

In 1983, he was the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate in Bradford West, where he halved the Labour majority. In the 1980s, he was the author of a number of political pamphlets published by Yorkshire Area CPC dealing mainly with Liberal campaigning techniques. In 1985 he was selected as the Parliamentary Candidate in Cheadle, being elected to Parliament for the seat in 1987.

He held the seat for 14 years during which time he successfully sponsored his own Private Members Bill which became law as the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Rear Seat Belts by Children) Act in 1988. Stephen received the Automobile Association Silver Award for contributions to road safety the following year.

He was a leading MP in the successful campaigns to secure compensation for both Barlow Clowes investors and Maxwell Pensioners. He had large numbers of constituents affected by both collapses. From 1989-97 he was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety, (PACTS) and a Joint Chairman of both the All Party Clubs Group and the West Coast Main Line Group.

He served as the senior Conservative member of both the Social Security Select Committee and the Environment Transport and the Regions select Committee. He is also a past Vice Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK branch. In 1997 he was appointed to the Opposition Whips Office being Senior Whip by the end of the Parliament.

At the 2001 General Election he lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats by the narrowest of margins - just 33 votes. In 2002, he was selected again by Cheadle Conservatives to be their Parliamentary Spokesman, and is also Deputy Chairman of Cheadle Conservatives.