Alumna Bridget Phillipson becomes first MP of the 2024 election

5 July 2024

Hertford alumna Bridget Phillipson (History and French, 2002) became the first new MP in the 2024 election, after her constituency came first over the line to declare its result. She has held her Labour seat in Houghton and Sunderland South since 2010, and served as Shadow Education Secretary since 2021. You can hear Bridget’s reaction to being the first MP of the 2024 election here.

In a statement addressing her constituents, she said: ‘After fourteen years as your Labour MP in opposition, I am so proud to be part of a party which tonight has not just won the trust of people here, in Houghton and Sunderland South, but of the people across Britain. Labour will honour the trust that you have placed in us. I will honour the trust that you have placed in me. And I will work every day to deliver the promises that Labour has made, and the better future that we, each of us and all of us, deserve.‘