Oonagh Anne McDonald (born 21 February 1938) is a British academic, businesswoman, and former Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Early life

McDonald was born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, the daughter of Dr HD McDonald, an Irish

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

minister. The family moved to London and she was educated at the Roan School for Girls in Greenwich, East Barnet Grammar School and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, where she gained a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Theology in 1962 and a

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1974. She worked variously as a teacher, lecturer, researcher and management consultant. She taught philosophy at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

from 1965 to 1976. She also served as a member of the Financial Services Commission in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and was a senior consultant on international regulatory and public policy issues.

Parliamentary career

McDonald unsuccessfully contested the seat of

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

as the Labour Party candidate at both the

February 1974 The following events occurred in February 1974: February 1, 1974 (Friday) *Joelma fire, A fire killed 177 people and injured 293 others in the 23-story Joelma Building at São Paulo in Brazil. Another 11 later died of their injuries. The bl ...

and October 1974 general elections. She was elected

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 ...

for

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

in the 1976 by-election, following the death of

Hugh Delargy Hugh James Delargy (26 September 1908 – 4 May 1976) was a Labour Party politician and MP. He was born in Prestwich, Lancashire, of Irish parents. Delargy was educated in England, Paris and Rome and worked as a teacher, journalist, labourer ...

. Prior to the by-election, there were only twenty seats in England with bigger Labour majorities than Thurrock. However while McDonald won, her majority was 14,241 votes less than her predecessor had enjoyed at the last election. Reporting the result of the election, ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' argued that as well as being caused by an increased

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

vote and a significant vote for the far-right National Front, who had not previously stood in Thurrock, this was the result of the fact that "Labour voters in London dockland stayed away in droves". However the same report noted that there was "relief" that Labour had held the seat and that for Prime Minister

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

the most important thing was that McDonald's victory would "swell the Government's effective majority to three." She became

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 ...

to the

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...

Joel Barnett Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett, (14 October 1923 – 1 November 2014) was a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the late 1970s, he devised the Barnett Formula that allocates public spending in Scotland, ...

(later Lord Barnett), in 1977. She was then Opposition Spokesman on Defence from 1981 to 1983, and then Opposition Spokesman on Treasury and Economic Affairs from 1983 to 1987. At the 1987 general election, she lost Thurrock to the Conservative candidate, Tim Janman.

Life after Parliament

McDonald is currently a director of the British Portfolio Trust, Complaints Commissioner for the

London Metal Exchange The London Metal Exchange (LME) is a futures and forwards exchange with the world's largest market in standarised forward contracts, futures contracts and options on base metals. The exchange also offers contracts on ferrous metals and precious ...

, ICE Futures and Virt-x and a member of

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

's Expert Roster. She was previously a director of the UK

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...

(formerly the Securities and Investments Board), a director of the General Insurance Standards Council, a director of Skandia Insurance Co Ltd, a director of the Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme, a director of the Investors Compensation Scheme and of Scottish Provident (until demutualised and sold to Abbey National in 2001), and a member of the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. She was Gwilym Gibbon Fellow at

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

and wrote ''The Future of Whitehall'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1992 and is also the author of ''Parliament at Work'', Methuen, 1989 and ''The Future of Retail Banking in Europe: A View from the Top'', with Professor

Kevin Keasey Kevin Keasey is Professor of Accounting and Finance, Director of the International Banking Institute and Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Finance at Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds. Early life and education K ...

, John Wiley & Sons, 2002, and numerous research papers for a variety of clients including Deloitte's and PricewaterhouseCoopers. In 2013, Bloomsbury Academic Press published her book ''

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

and Freddie Mac: Turning the American Dream into a Nightmare''. She is currently a visiting fellow in International Institute of Banking & Financial Services at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. She also edits the ''Journal of Financial Regulation & Compliance''. In 1998, she was awarded the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to financial regulation and business. She has been the chair of the Fairbanking Mark Assessment Panel for the Fairbanking Foundation since November 2013.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'', 1987 * *http://www.fsc.gi/
Debretts People of Today

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Oonagh 1938 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 Politics of Thurrock People educated at East Barnet School People educated at the John Roan School People from Stockton-on-Tees Academics of the University of Bristol 20th-century British women politicians Chairs of the Fabian Society English people of Irish descent 20th-century English women 20th-century English people