Andrew Joseph McDonald (born 8 March 1958) is a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician and solicitor. He served as

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport The Shadow Secretary of State for Transport is a political post in the United Kingdom. It has been consistently held by a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet since May 1979. The Shadow Secretary helps hold the Transport Secretary and ...

in Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet from 2016 to 2020, and as

Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights and Protections The office of Shadow Minister for Employment is a position on the United Kingdom's Official Opposition frontbench, and has occasionally been a position in the Shadow Cabinet. From 1970 to 1995, the duty of the office holder was to scrutinise th ...

under

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

before resigning in September 2021. He has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

since

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. He is a member of the

Socialist Campaign Group The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...

parliamentary

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

Early life

Andy McDonald was born in Acklam, Middlesbrough, in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

. 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 Trinity Catholic College is a large, co-educational secondary school and sixth form in the town of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It is part of Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust. Founded in 2009 following the amalgamation of S ...

). He attended St. Mary's Sixth Form College before studying for a law degree at

Leeds Polytechnic Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The unive ...

Legal career

McDonald worked as a solicitor for over 25 years, as a senior solicitor at the

office of

Thompsons Solicitors Thompsons Solicitors, formerly Robin Thompson & Partners, is a large firm of solicitors founded in 1921 with longstanding links to the trade union movement. It is 45th on the list of largest United Kingdom-based law firms. It specialises in perso ...

and to lead the firm's Serious Injury Unit for the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West ...

, 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 a special adviser to the House of Commons

Defence Select Committee The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...

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 The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) is a United Kingdom not-for-profit organisation comprising about 3,300 personal injury Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to prop ...

' Military Special Interest Group and was a founder member of

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

's Solicitors Group.

Early political career

McDonald was active in local politics in Middlesbrough for many years. He served as

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

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 The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...

. However,

Tom Blenkinsop Thomas Francis Blenkinsop (born 14 August 1980) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland from 2010 to 2017. A member of the Labour Party, he was an Opposition Whip under Ed Mil ...

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 on a number of issues including opposition to the "Bedroom Tax" (part of the

Welfare Reform Act 2012 The Welfare Reform Act 2012 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which makes changes to the rules concerning a number of benefits offered within the British social security system. It was enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdo ...

) and the privatisation of the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

. In February 2013, he was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

(PPS) to

Emily Thornberry Emily Anne Thornberry (born 27 July 1960) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wale ...

, Shadow Attorney General. Following the

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

's shadow cabinet reshuffle in October 2013, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Chuka Umunna Chuka Harrison Umunna (; born 17 October 1978) is a British retired politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham from 2010 until 2019. A former member of the Labour Party, he was part of the Shadow Cabinet from 2011 to ...

in Umunna's role as

Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills The Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secr ...

. In January 2016, McDonald was appointed to

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

's shadow ministry to replace Jonathan Reynolds, who resigned as Shadow Minister for Rail in protest after Corbyn sacked

Pat McFadden Patrick Bosco McFadden (born 26 March 1965) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 20 ...

. In June 2016, he was appointed Shadow Transport Secretary as part of the Labour Party's post-

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

reshuffle. In April 2020, incoming leader

moved him to

. 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 A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

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

to £15. He said he had been instructed by Starmer's office to argue at the

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when the ...

"against a national minimum wage of £15 an hour and against statutory sick pay at the living wage".

Trustee and governor roles

McDonald was a

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Abingdon Primary School for fifteen years until 2010 and became a governor of

Middlesbrough College Middlesbrough College, located on one campus at Middlehaven, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, is the largest college on Teesside. Admissions It provides predominantly further education, but also selected higher education provision, a ...

in 2012. He has also been chair of two charities in his constituency, the Davison Trust, which works with children with

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

, and the

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

branch of Headway, which works with people with brain injuries.

References

External links

Official website
*
Profile at Middlesbrough College
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Andy 1958 births Living people Alumni of Leeds Beckett University Councillors in North East England English people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics English solicitors 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