Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay faced down baffled peers in the Lords yesterday, with a steely glare insisting that, through privatisation, the Government has the best interests of Channel 4 in its heart.
Where does such certainty come from ? Stephen was born in North Shields in 1983. There were some mining roots - his grandmother's family worked at Netherton Colliery, but dad worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital. A move to Berkshire saw Stephen at Park House, a comprehensive at that time, in Newbury. He made it to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, to read history and had stints in charge of both the Cambridge University Conservative Association and the Cambridge Union.
He joined the Conservative Research Department straight from college. He worked first on the Home Office desk and then in the Political Section; some records say he covered the Culture, Media and Sport Brief for two years. After a year as Director of Research at the Centre for Policy Studies, he returned to Conservative Campaign Headquarters as a member of the Party’s target seats campaign, and then fought Newcastle Upon Tyne North in the 2010 General Election, coming third.
Thence to lobbyists Quiller for two years, where he also led the Tory team campaigning against proportional representation, working alongside Matthew Elliott . Theresa May made him a Special Advisor at the Home Office from 2012 to 2015, and then he went back on the campaign trail as National Organiser of the ground campaign for Vote Leave.
There he met a boyfriend, Shahmir Sanni, now perhaps known better for his friendship with popular music artiste Sam Smith. Other team mates included Daniel, now Lord Hannan; and Darren Grimes, now a presenter with GB News - implacably opposed to the existence of C4 in its current form.
In 2016, he was back at Theresa May's side, as Political Secretary to The Prime Minister. He still wanted to be an MP, but was thwarted at the selection process in both 2015 and for a by-election in 2017. He was, however, growing in confidence; a Guardian profile quoted a senior Tory source who'd had sparred with Parkinson describing him as “fiery, with a big sense of self-importance”
He was nominated for a life peerage in Theresa May's resignation honours and introduced to the Lords by Lord Lexden (Conservative historian Alistair Cooke) and Lord (Norman) Lamont. He was wearing his Cambridge University Conservative Association tie.
