Andy McDonald (politician)

Andrew Joseph McDonald (born 8 March 1958) is a British  politician and solicitor who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough since 2012. He served as Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Protections in Keir Starmer's Shadow Cabinet between 2020 and 2021. Previously, he served as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport in Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet from 2016 to 2020. He was suspended from the Labour Party for using the "From the river to the sea" slogan in a speech at pro-Palestine rally in October 2023, after it was construed as antisemitic.

Early life
Andy McDonald was born in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

He was educated at a number of local schools, including St. Francis Primary School, St. Edward's Primary School and St. George's Secondary School (which later became Trinity Catholic College, Middlesbrough). He attended St. Mary's Sixth Form College before studying a degree in law at Leeds Polytechnic.

Legal career
Following completion of his law degree, McDonald worked as a solicitor for over 25 years. He was a senior solicitor at the Middlesbrough office of Thompsons Solicitors and led the firm's Serious Injury Unit for the Cumbria, Humberside, North East and Yorkshire areas. He was also the firm's Head of Military Claims for members of the British Armed Forces. Whilst working for the firm, McDonald acted as an adviser to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee for its 2003 report on Armed Forces Pensions and Compensation. He has also served as both Chair and as Secretary of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers' Military Special Interest Group, and was a founder member of The Royal British Legion's Solicitors Group.

Early political career
McDonald was active in local politics in Middlesbrough for many years. He served as a Labour councillor for Westbourne ward from 1995 to 1999. At the time of his selection as a parliamentary candidate, he was chairman of Middlesbrough Labour Party Local Government Committee.

Labour shortlisted McDonald as a potential candidate for the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the 2010 United Kingdom general election. However, Tom Blenkinsop was the eventual choice.

Parliamentary career
McDonald became a parliamentarian when he won the Middlesbrough by-election held on 29 November 2012, retaining the seat for Labour following the death of Sir Stuart Bell. McDonald increased the party's share of the vote to 60.5%, though his majority was reduced by 500 to 8,211.

Since his election to Parliament, he has campaigned against the "Bedroom Tax" (part of the Welfare Reform Act 2012) and in favour of nationalisation of the East Coast Main Line franchise, arguing that the Scotland-London railway had been the only one in the country "which comes close to paying for itself" and that journey numbers, revenue and customer satisfaction had grown since nationalisation in 2009.

In February 2013, he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Emily Thornberry, the Shadow Attorney General.

Following the Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet reshuffle in October 2013, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Chuka Umunna, in Umunna's role as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In January 2016, McDonald was appointed to Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet to replace Jonathan Reynolds, who resigned as Shadow Minister for Rail in protest after Corbyn sacked Pat McFadden.

In June 2016, he was promoted to Shadow Transport Secretary during Corbyn's post-Brexit Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. In his time as Shadow Transport Secretary, McDonald oversaw the development of Labour's policy to nationalise the railways. On the 25th anniversary of the privatisation of the railways, McDonald said privatisation had failed since the taxpayer was "putting in even more money to the privatised system than when it was nationalised", and that nationalisation would allow a Labour government to cap fares and run the railways in the interest of passengers.

In March 2018, McDonald was accused of comparing the situation in Gaza to the Holocaust by Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust

In April 2020, incoming leader Keir Starmer moved McDonald to the role of Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Protections. McDonald was the chair of Labour's "Power in the Workplace Taskforce" which provided input into Labour's Employment Rights' Green Paper published in September 2021. The paper stated that "Labour is demanding that the minimum wage is immediately raised to at least £10 per hour for all workers". In September 2021, McDonald resigned as Shadow Secretary, citing lack of support from Starmer for an increase in the minimum wage to £15 per hour. He said he had been instructed by Starmer's office to argue at the Labour Party Conference "against a national minimum wage of £15 an hour and against statutory sick pay at the living wage".

In April 2023, using parliamentary privilege when speaking in the House of Commons, McDonald alleged "shocking, industrial-scale corruption" surrounding the ongoing Teesworks free port development near Redcar. Prior to this, the alleged corruption had been reported in Private Eye. McDonald's comments led to a high-profile row with the Conservative Party Tees Valley metro mayor, Ben Houchen, who had significant involvement with the project. Following McDonald's comments, Lisa Nandy, the Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, called for a independent inquiry by the National Audit Office (NAO) into the Teesworks development. The government refused the request for an independent inquiry by the NAO, instead deciding to appoint a government-chosen panel to investigate the allegations.

In June 2023, McDonald condemned the government's proposal to house 1,500 asylum seekers on a barge, possibly in Middlesbrough.

In October 2023, McDonald was suspended from the Labour parliamentary party, after appearing at a pro-Palestine rally and stating: "We won't rest until we have justice, until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea can live in peaceful liberty", which included a reference to the phrase "from the river to the sea"; the party described McDonald's comment as "deeply offensive".

Trustee and governor roles
McDonald was a governor of Abingdon Primary School for fifteen years until 2010, and became a governor of Middlesbrough College in 2012. He has also been chair of two charities in his constituency, the Davison Trust, which works with children with special needs, and the Teesside branch of Headway, which works with people with brain injuries.

References

External links
Official website

Profile at Middlesbrough College
Profile at Thompsons Solicitors 

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1958 births
Living people
Alumni of Leeds Beckett University
Councillors in North East England
English people of Irish descent
English solicitors
Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
People from Middlesbrough
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present