Stephen Hammond's Biography

Stephen was born and educated in Southampton, attending King Edward VI School and afterwards on to London University. After graduating in Economics, he began a career in finance at a leading fund management house and subsequently worked for major investment banks. He was appointed a Director of the Equities division of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in 1994 and four years later joined Commerzbank Securities. In 2000 he was promoted to Director, Pan European Research, with responsibility for seventy professionals based in London and across Europe.

Stephen has been married to Sally since 1991. Sally has for many years worked as a private secretary to Members of Parliament based at the House of Commons. They live in Wimbledon Park, with their daughter, Alice. Visitors to the house also receive a warm welcome from their black cocker spaniel, Jasper, who is often to be seen on Wimbledon Common.

Stephen's background in finance and business is combined with a strong commitment to community affairs - he was Deputy Chairman of Merton Citizens Advice Bureau and is a sidesman at St Mary's Church in Wimbledon.

Stephen used to play hockey for a National League team and for his county, now plays veterans hockey for Wimbledon. He enjoys reading and cooking as methods of relaxation as well as keeping the company of family and friends.

Stephen's Experience

Stephen joined the Conservative Party after leaving university, becoming immediately and actively involved in his local association in Hertfordshire. He co-ordinated the 1987 and 1992 General Election campaigns for Tim Wood MP and was chairman of Stevenage Conservatives for three years.

In 1994 Stephen was selected as candidate for North Warwickshire, establishing a family base in the constituency. During this time, he became known as an active campaigner on local issues, clocking up numerous successes on major environmental and road building issues as well as local crime and health problems.

In 1999, Stephen was thrilled to be selected by Wimbledon Conservatives as their candidate for the 2001 General Election. In the two years prior to the Election Stephen reintroduced a campaign of Saturday canvassing to find out local residents' opinions and problems and ran the highly successful " Vision for Wimbledon", " Grimebusters" and "State of the Streets" campaigns. These aimed to establish a positive vision for the future of Wimbledon by tackling specifically two of the main concerns of local residents - grafitti and poor street cleanliness.

On the strength of his commitment to local issues, Stephen was elected councillor in Village Ward in 2002 - polling the highest vote of any candidate in the borough. He became Deputy Group Leader and a member of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission. He has not disappointed his constituents and continues to build upon his now long established reputation for diligence in dealing with the problems and issues they face.

In November 2004, Stephen was re-selected as Wimbledon candidate for the forthcoming General Election. He was elected as Member of Parliament in May 2005. In December 2005 Stephen was promoted to the position of Shadow Minister for Transport.