Henderson left school at 15 and started work as a stockroom assistant in a Woolworths shop in Chatham. He advanced through the ranks of the company, becoming a senior store manager. Henderson left Woolworths in 1979 after 15 years with the company. After leaving Woolworths Henderson went through a range of jobs and ran his own restaurant in South Africa. He was also a senior contracts officer for GEC Marconi, and worked for a Rochester based wine company. Before entering parliament Henderson worked as an operations manager for an alcohol-based gifts company, the largest in the UK.
Political career
Henderson has a long-standing interest in politics. He is a fully qualified Conservative Party political agent and was the constituency agent for North Thanet MP, Roger Gale. Henderson has served as deputy leader of Swale Borough Council twice and was also a Kent county councillor, during which time he sat both on the education committee and the Kent Police Authority. In 2001, Henderson contested the seat of Luton South; he was unsuccessful, losing by 10,000 votes. In 2005, Henderson contested the Sittingbourne and Sheppey seat and came second, losing by only 79 votes. In 2010, Henderson once again stood for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, this time he received a 12,383 majority He is a supporter of the Better Off Out campaign which calls for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. He has stated that the non-Conservative politician he most admires is Nigel Farage MEP, of Brexit Party. In 2014, Henderson responded to speculation about a possible defection to UKIP by issuing a statement saying defection was something he had considered, but he viewed their other policies as "muddled and contradictory". Henderson voted against Same-sex marriage. During the 2019 General Election campaign Gordon took part in an episode of the Victoria Derbyshire Show live from Sheerness, Kent. When questioned about levels of child poverty in his constituency Gordon stated that "I personally can't do anything". Gordon went on to increase his vote share at the election by over 7%.
Personal life
Henderson was born in the Medway towns. He is married with three children, and seven grandchildren. Henderson has lived on the Isle of Sheppey for over 30 years. He is a long time supporter of Gillingham F.C. and Partick Thistle F.C. Henderson has been involved in local voluntary work, as an instructor in the Army Cadet Force, as a director of the SWIM training centre and as a school governor at Eastchurch Primary School and the Cheyne Middle School. He is currently chairman of Litter Angels, which holds annual workshops in primary schools across Sittingbourne and Sheppey and runs an anti-litter poster competition.
