Samantha Dixon

British politician

City of Chester (2022–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 December 2022Preceded byChris MathesonMajority11,870 (26.6%)Leader of Cheshire West and Chester CouncilIn office
21 May 2015 – 21 May 2019Preceded byMike JonesSucceeded byLouise GittinsMember of Cheshire West and Chester CouncilIn office
5 May 2011 – 4 May 2023WardChester City and the Garden Quarter Personal detailsBorn
Samantha Kate Georgeson

Reading, Berkshire, EnglandPolitical partyLabourAlma materUniversity of Sheffield (BA)WebsiteOfficial website

Samantha Kate Dixon MBE (née Georgeson) is a British politician who serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chester North and Neston. She sat for City of Chester from 2022 until the seat's abolition in 2024.[1] A member of the Labour Party, she was Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council from 2015 to 2019.[2]

Early life

Samantha Kate Georgeson was born in Reading, Berkshire.[3] Her family moved to Chester when she was four-years-old, and she has lived Hoole and Upton-by-Chester. She was educated at Christleton High School.[4][5]

Dixon received a Batchelor of Arts in English literature from University of Sheffield in 1987. She worked for Sotheby's as a senior press officer from 1989 to 1997.[6]

Political career

Local government career

Dixon was first elected to Cheshire West and Chester Council in 2011, representing Chester City and the Garden Quarter ward.[7] She was re-elected in 2015 and 2019, but didn't seek election in 2023.

Labour won control of the council in 2015, and she was subsequently elected to become its first woman leader.[8][9][2][10] She stood down as leader after the 2019 local elections, when Labour retained the council leadership but lost their majority.[2][11][12]

Dixon was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for 'political service'.[13][14]

Parliamentary career

In October 2022, Dixon was selected as the Labour candidate for the City of Chester by-election.[15] The by-election was triggered after the resignation of incumbent Labour MP Chris Matheson.[16] One of her campaign pledges was to make the historic Chester Rows a World Heritage Site.[17]

The by-election itself saw nine candidates, with 28,541 votes in total and a turnout of 41.2% of the local electorate. Dixon won with 60.8% of the vote, 17,309 votes, and a majority of 10,974.[18] After her victory she said she would "fight Chester's corner" in Westminster.[19]

She was sworn into the House of Commons on 5 December,[20] and was welcomed to Parliament on 7 December by Keir Starmer and Labour MPs.[21] She was also the first Member of Parliament to swear her Oath of Allegiance to Charles III.

Dixon was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rachel Reeves in February 2023.[22] She was promoted to become an opposition whip in September of the same year.[23] In April 2024, a man was found guilty of the stalking and harassment of Dixon.[24]

Dixon stood in the new constituency of Chester North and Neston in the 2024 general election,[25] and she was elected.[26] Following the election, she was appointed a Government Whip (Vice-Chamberlain of the Household).

Personal life

Dixon is married to Nicholas and has three children.[27] Her recreations include knitting.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Labour's Samantha Dixon wins Chester by-election". Sky News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Holmes, David (10 May 2019). "Louise Gittins will be next leader of Cheshire West council". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  3. ^ "GEORGESON SAMANTHA K". Free BMD. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  4. ^ Neame, Katie (30 November 2022). "Sam Dixon: City of Chester by-election is "our poll of polls on Rishi Sunak"". LabourList. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Ferguson, Angela (30 November 2022). "From herding sheep to a pint at The Brewery Tap – meet the candidates". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Samantha Dixon MBE". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Samantha Dixon – Cheshire West Labour". Cheshire West Labour. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. ^ Unger, Paul (13 May 2015). "Dixon names Cheshire West executive". Place North West. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Agenda for Council on Thursday, 21st May, 2015, 5.00 pm". cmttpublic.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Cheshire West Labour gets new group leader – Sam Dixon resigns". Northwich Guardian. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  11. ^ Green, Michael; Holmes, David (3 May 2019). "Cheshire West & Chester elections: Labour lose overall control". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Agenda for Council on Tuesday, 21st May, 2019, 6.30 pm". cmttpublic.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  13. ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 2022. p. B19.
  14. ^ Dowling, Mark (7 June 2022). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Chester stalwarts earn OBE and MBE honours". Chester Standard. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  15. ^ Pennington, Josh (30 October 2022). "Labour Party announce candidate for Chester by-election after MP resigns". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  16. ^ Bunting, Hannah (30 November 2022). "Chester: The first by-election since the pound crashed and Rishi Sunak became PM – what could result mean?". Sky News. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  17. ^ Ferguson, Angela (10 November 2022). "By-election candidate pledges to get World Heritage status for Chester Rows". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Labour's Samantha Dixon wins Chester by-election with increased 11,000 margin over Tories". Sky News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  19. ^ "Newly elected MP vows to 'fight Chester's corner'". BBC News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  20. ^ "City of Chester: Cost of living and buses on new MP's agenda". BBC News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Sir Keir Starmer welcomes new Chester MP Samantha Dixon to Parliament". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  22. ^ Dixon, Samantha (8 February 2023). "Tweet announcing new role". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  23. ^ Dixon, Samantha (15 September 2023). ""Labour has a new top team."". Samantha Dixon MP. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Man given jail sentence for stalking and harassing City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon". ITV Granada. 15 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Boundaries review: The ancient city of Chester being split in two". BBC News. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Chester North and Neston - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Councillor details – Councillor Samantha Dixon MBE – Cheshire West & Cheshire Council". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

External links

  • Official website
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Chris Matheson
 Member of Parliament for City of Chester
2022– 		Incumbent
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