Samantha Dixon

Samantha Kate Dixon MBE is a British politician of the Labour Party who serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Chester, winning the seat in the 2022 City of Chester by-election.[3] Between 2015 and 2019, Dixon was the leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, the first woman to hold this position.[4]

Samantha Dixon
MBE MP
Official portrait, 2022
Member of Parliament
for City of Chester
Assumed office
1 December 2022
Preceded byChris Matheson
Majority10,974 (38.5%)
Leader of the Cheshire West and Chester Council
In office
May 2015 – May 2019
Preceded byMike Jones
Succeeded byLouise Gittins
Member of the Cheshire West and Chester Council
Assumed office
5 May 2011
ConstituencyChester City and The Garden Quarter
Personal details
Born
Samantha Kate Georgeson[1]

Reading, Berkshire, England[2]
Political partyLabour
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield
Websitesamantha-dixon.co.uk

Early life

Dixon was born in Reading, Berkshire and has lived in Chester since the age of four, in areas including Hoole and Upton-by-Chester, and attended Christleton High School.[5][6] She has a BA (1987) in English literature (British and Commonwealth) from the University of Sheffield, and worked for Sotheby's as a senior press officer from 1989 to 1997.[7]

Political career

Council career

Dixon was first elected to Cheshire West and Chester Council in the 2011 council election, representing the Chester City and the Garden Quarter ward.[8] In 2015, she became the first woman leader of the council.[9]

She was leader of her party group until the 2019 elections, when Labour lost overall control of the council.[10] After resigning as council leader, Dixon remained a councillor for Chester City and The Garden Quarter ward.[11]

Parliamentary career

On 30 October 2022, Dixon was announced as the Labour candidate for the City of Chester by-election.[12] The by-election was triggered after the resignation of incumbent Labour MP Chris Matheson.[13] One of her campaign pledges was to make the historic Chester Rows a World Heritage Site.[14]

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.[15] After her victory she said she would "fight Chester's corner" in Westminster.[16]

She was sworn into the House of Commons on 5 December,[17] and was welcomed to Parliament on 7 December by Keir Starmer and Labour MPs.[18] She was also the first Member of Parliament to swear her Oath of Allegiance to Charles III, as her by-election was the first since he came to the throne on 8 September.

In February 2023, she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.[19]

Personal life

Dixon is married to Nicholas and has three children.[20] She enjoys knitting and learned how to knit socks during the COVID-19 lockdown.[6]

Honours

Dixon was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours "for political service".[21][22]

References
  1. "GEORGESON SAMANTHA K". Free BMD. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  2. "GEORGESON SAMANTHA K". Free BMD. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  3. "Labour's Samantha Dixon wins Chester by-election". Sky News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  4. Holmes, David (10 May 2019). "Louise Gittins will be next leader of Cheshire West council". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  5. Neame, Katie. "Sam Dixon: City of Chester by-election is "our poll of polls on Rishi Sunak"". LabourList. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  6. Ferguson, Angela (30 November 2022). "From herding sheep to a pint at The Brewery Tap – meet the candidates". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  7. "Samantha Dixon MBE". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  8. "Samantha Dixon – Cheshire West Labour". Cheshire West Labour. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  9. Holmes, David (10 May 2019). "Louise Gittins will be next leader of Cheshire West council". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. Green, Michael; Holmes, David (3 May 2019). "Cheshire West & Chester elections: Labour lose overall control". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  11. "Cheshire West Labour gets new group leader – Sam Dixon resigns". Northwich Guardian. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  12. Pennington, Josh (30 October 2022). "Labour Party announce candidate for Chester by-election after MP resigns". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  13. 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.
  14. Ferguson, Angela (10 November 2022). "By-election candidate pledges to get World Heritage status for Chester Rows". CheshireLive. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  15. "Labour's Samantha Dixon wins Chester by-election with increased 11,000 margin over Tories". Sky News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  16. "Newly elected MP vows to 'fight Chester's corner'". BBC News. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  17. "City of Chester: Cost of living and buses on new MP's agenda". BBC News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  18. "Sir Keir Starmer welcomes new Chester MP Samantha Dixon to Parliament". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  19. Dixon, Samantha (8 February 2023). "Tweet announcing new role". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  20. "Councillor details – Councillor Samantha Dixon MBE – Cheshire West & Cheshire Council". Cheshire West and Chester Council. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  21. "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 2022. p. B19.
  22. Dowling, Mark (7 June 2022). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Chester stalwarts earn OBE and MBE honours". Chester Standard. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
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