Michael Stephen

Barrie Michael Lace Stephen, known as Michael Stephen (born 25 September 1942), was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP).

Early life

Stephen was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1966. In the same year he was commissioned into The Life Guards and served in the Far East, London, Windsor, and Northern Ireland until 1970. In that year he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to read International Law in the United States, and earned a Master's degree degree from Stanford University. He was a postgraduate student at Harvard Law School 1971–72, and assistant legal adviser to the UK delegation to the UN for the 25th General Assembly. On returning to England he practised at the Bar in London, specialising in commercial law. In 1989 he married Virginia Mary de Trense.

Parliamentary career

Stephen contested the Labour stronghold of Doncaster North in 1983. He was elected MP for Shoreham in 1992 and served until 1997, when his seat was abolished by boundary changes. He did not seek re-election at the 1997 United Kingdom general election. He is the author of the Bail (Amendment) Act 1993 which authorised appeals against grants of bail by magistrates, and s.36 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 which authorised appeals against over-lenient sentences.

References

• Times Guide to the House of Commons, Times Newspapers Limited, 1992

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Michael Stephen