John McDonnell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John McDonnell
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Official portrait, 2021
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| Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| In office 13 September 2015 – 5 April 2020 |
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| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Chris Leslie |
| Succeeded by | Anneliese Dodds |
| Deputy Leader of the Greater London Council | |
| In office 7 May 1984 – 7 May 1985 |
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| Leader | Ken Livingstone |
| Preceded by | Illtyd Harrington |
| Succeeded by | Michael Ward |
| Chair of the Finance and General Purposes committee | |
| In office 11 May 1982 – 21 May 1985 |
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| Leader | Ken Livingstone |
| Preceded by | Dr Anthony Hart |
| Succeeded by | Alex Mackay |
| Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington |
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| Assumed office 1 May 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Terry Dicks |
| Majority | 12,031 (31.4%) |
| Member of the Greater London Council for Hayes and Harlington |
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| In office 7 May 1981 – 31 March 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Arthur H. S. Hull |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Martin McDonnell
8 September 1951 Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations |
Labour Party (1981–2024; suspended and whip withdrawn) Socialist Campaign Group |
| Spouses |
Marilyn Jean Cooper
(m. 1971; div. 1987)Cynthia Marie Pinto
(m. 1995) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Great Yarmouth Grammar School St Joseph's College, Ipswich Burnley Technical College |
| Alma mater | Brunel University Birkbeck, University of London |
| Signature |  |
John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997, representing the Labour Party until the whip was withdrawn and his suspension on 23 July 2024 as a result of voting to scrap the two child benefit cap. On the political left, McDonnell is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group.
He stood for the position of Labour Party leader following Tony Blair's resignation in 2007, but failed to reach the required number of nominations. He was a candidate for the party leadership again in 2010 following Gordon Brown's resignation after Labour's electoral defeat, but withdrew in favour of Diane Abbott, feeling that he would be unable to secure enough nominations.
Alongside Jeremy Corbyn, McDonnell has been seen as a major figure on the left-wing of the party. After being elected Labour leader in 2015, Corbyn appointed McDonnell to his Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. As Shadow Chancellor, McDonnell pledged to increase spending on infrastructure and research, describing his vision for the economy as "socialism with an iPad".
Contents
Early life
McDonnell was born in Liverpool to a family with an Irish Catholic background. His father, Bob, was a docker who also served as a sergeant in the Sherwood Foresters during World War II, whilst his mother Elsie worked as a cleaner. He moved with his family to his mother's hometown, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, when he was very young as his father was unable to find work at the docks; his father became a bus driver and was a branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union and his mother worked for British Home Stores. McDonnell attended Great Yarmouth Grammar School. McDonnell received a Local Authority grant to attend St Joseph's College, Ipswich, a Roman Catholic boarding fee-paying independent school for boys (now co-educational). " McDonnell is now irreligious, but refers to himself as a "cultural Catholic" and is a regular churchgoer.
McDonnell failed his A-levels at grammar school, partly due to holding down part-time jobs in bars and a bingo hall. Upon leaving education, McDonnell held a series of unskilled jobs. After marrying his first wife, he returned to A-level studies at night school at Burnley Technical College, and at the age of 23, he moved to Hayes in Greater London, attended Brunel University, and earned a bachelor's degree in government and politics. During this period, he helped his wife run a small children's home in Hayes, and was active on behalf of his local community and for National Union of Public Employees. After completing his master's degree in politics and sociology at Birkbeck, University of London, he became a researcher and official with the National Union of Mineworkers from 1977 to 1978, and later the Trades Union Congress from 1978 until 1982. From 1985 to 1987, McDonnell was head of the policy unit at Camden Borough Council, then chief executive of the Association of London Authorities from 1987 to 1995, and the Association of London Government from 1995 until 1997.
Greater London Council (1981–1986)
In 1981, McDonnell was elected to the Greater London Council (GLC) as the member for Hayes and Harlington. He became the GLC's chair of finance and deputy leader to Ken Livingstone, who described him as having an "absolute grasp for detail and every year he produced a balanced budget, no borrowing". He was sacked by Livingstone in 1985 over the strategy to oppose rate-capping.
After the GLC (1986–1997)
Following the abolition of the GLC in 1986, McDonnell was employed as head of the policy unit at Camden London Borough Council. In 1987, he became Chief Executive of the Association of London Authorities (eventually the Association of London Government), where he represented all the London boroughs in their relations with central government and Europe. Having previously unsuccessfully contested Hampstead and Highgate in 1983, McDonnell fought for his home constituency of Hayes and Harlington at the 1992 general election, but lost by 53 votes, after three recounts, to the Conservative incumbent, Terry Dicks. During the campaign, Dicks sued for libel over critical material in McDonnell's campaign leaflets; McDonnell settled and paid Dicks damages of £15,000 plus legal costs of £55,000. McDonnell would later refer to Dicks as a 'stain' on the character of the House of Commons and a stain on the Conservative Party, and a 'malignant creature' during his maiden parliamentary speech.
Parliamentary backbencher (1997–2015)
When Terry Dicks then stood down, McDonnell became the MP for Hayes and Harlington at the 1997 general election, with 62 per cent of the vote and a majority of over 14,000. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 6 June 1997, where he notably launched a scathing attack against his predecessor, against parliamentary tradition. He has been involved in several local community campaigns, including one opposing the expansion of Heathrow Airport and its impact on local communities. He opposed New Labour policies of the Iraq War, foundation hospitals, student top-up fees, trust schools and anti-terror laws. When Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor of London, as an independent in 2000, he appointed McDonnell to his cabinet with responsibility for local government in London.
Iraq War
In October 2006, McDonnell was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the war in Iraq.
Groups and campaigns in Parliament
McDonnell is a leading member of several all-party groups within Parliament, including groups representing individual trade unions, such as the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and justice unions such as NAPO. He is also a leading member of groups on a wide range of issues such as Britain's Irish community, the Punjabi community, endometriosis, and Kenya. McDonnell is a member of the Labour Land Campaign, which advocates introducing a land value tax.
McDonnell chairs the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), a left-wing group of Labour activists, local parties, trade unions and MPs that campaigns for the adoption of a raft of socialist policies by the Labour Government. The group was founded on Saturday, 3 July 2004, and currently has more than 800 members and 90 affiliates. He also chairs the Public Services Not Private Profit, an anti-privatisation campaign that brings together sixteen trade unions and several campaigning organisations, such as the World Development Movement, Defend Council Housing and the National Pensioners Convention. An early day motion in support of the campaign attracted more than ninety MPs. The campaign held a mass rally and lobby of Parliament on 27 June 2006, which was attended by more than 2,000 trade unionists.
Economic policy
In 2006, McDonnell said that "Marx, Lenin and Trotsky" were his "most significant" intellectual influences. Footage emerged of McDonnell in 2013 talking about the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and stating, "I've been waiting for this for a generation! We’ve got to demand systemic change. Look, I’m straight, I’m honest with people: I’m a Marxist." He was accused of celebrating the financial crisis of 2007–2008; McDonnell denied the allegation and claimed he was "joking". During an interview with Andrew Marr when the footage was played and McDonnell was asked, "Are you a Marxist?", he replied: "I believe there's a lot to learn from reading Kapital, yes of course there is, and that's been recommended not just by me but many others, mainstream economists as well." In 2018, McDonnell attended the Marx 200 conference, where he said, "Marxism is about the freedom of spirit, the development of life chances, the enhancement of democracy." In 2019, McDonnell during an interview stated that Marx’s Kapital is "one of the important analyses of the modern capitalist system".
Public services
McDonnell has consistently opposed the privatisation of public services and chaired the Public Services not Private Profit Campaign launched in 2006 and supported by sixteen trade unions linking up with students, pensioners, health campaigners and the World Development Movement.
McDonnell is "not supportive of PFI schemes", declaring that he has "opposed every PFI scheme that was proposed".
Tax transparency
Throughout his time in Parliament, McDonnell has championed the cause of tax justice, hosting the Parliamentary launch of the Tax Justice Network in 2003.
Anti-austerity
In February 2013, McDonnell was among those who supported the People's Assembly Against Austerity in a letter published by The Guardian newspaper.
Heathrow Airport expansion
McDonnell has been a vocal opponent of plans to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway—the proposed site lies within his constituency. During a debate on the expansion of the airport on 15 January 2009, he was suspended for five days by Deputy Speaker Alan Haselhurst after disrupting Commons proceedings. McDonnell picked up the ceremonial mace and placed it down on an empty bench in the Commons while shouting that the lack of a vote on the third runway was "a disgrace to the democracy of this country."
Armed police and MI5
In 2015, McDonnell's name appeared on a letter calling for the armed police and MI5 to be disbanded. He claimed that he had not signed the letter, which was produced by the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory (SCLV), but he was photographed holding a copy of the letter, although he later said that he did not know that the demand was on the letter.
2007 Labour leadership campaign
On 14 July 2006, McDonnell announced his intention to stand for leadership of the Labour Party when Tony Blair announced the date of his resignation. He called for "a challenge to the present political consensus", and, "a real Labour government based upon the policies that our supporters expect from us". McDonnell said he would like to see a return to the Labour Party's more traditional areas.
Initially, McDonnell and Michael Meacher were the two candidates representing the left wing of the party. McDonnell's campaign concentrated on grassroots efforts, which earned him an endorsement from the Trades Union Congress. In a YouGov opinion poll of more than 1,100 Labour Party members asking their preferred choice in the leadership contest, McDonnell received 9% support, and was ranked second to Chancellor Gordon Brown, who led with 80% of the vote. Declared supporters included Diane Abbott, Tony Benn, and Ann Cryer. In total, eleven Labour MPs declared their support on McDonnell's campaign website.
Labour Party rules require candidates to be nominated by 12.5% of Labour MPs (45 out of a total of 355 in 2007). Gordon Brown received 313 (88.2%) nominations, while McDonnell failed to collect the 45 nominations required to proceed to the Electoral College. As the only nominated candidate, Gordon Brown was declared leader by the NEC.
2010 Labour leadership campaign
On 18 May 2010, news broke that McDonnell wanted to stand in the Labour Party leadership election, to be held following the resignation of Gordon Brown, and would announce it the following day at the Public and Commercial Services Union conference in Brighton. McDonnell noted that it would be "difficult" to get the 33 nominations needed from the Parliamentary Labour Party required to stand in the election.
By 9 June 2010, the deadline for nominations, he had secured only 16 nominations and withdrew from the contest.
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2015–2020)
McDonnell was one of the thirty-six Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn (who was elected as Labour leader with 59.5% of the vote) as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. McDonnell managed Corbyn's leadership campaign, and he was appointed Shadow Chancellor in September 2015.
McDonnell's first speech as Shadow Chancellor was at the 2015 Labour Party conference in Brighton. In the speech, he set out Labour's thinking and priorities in key areas, as well as encouraging Labour MPs who had refused to serve under Corbyn to return.
He surprised many by calling upon Labour MPs to back Conservative Chancellor George Osborne's Fiscal Charter, arguing that supporting the proposed deficit reduction framework showed Labour's commitment to "living within their means." However, he reversed that call in October, citing his trip to visit former steelworkers at a recently closed plant in Redcar as the reason for not wanting to be associated with supporting government cuts. McDonnell repeated the word "embarrassing" five times in his Commons response to the U-turn, adding that "a bit of humility amongst politicians never goes amiss".
In a November speech ahead of Osborne's Spending Review, McDonnell pledged that a Labour government would spend 3.5% of GDP on infrastructure and fund research through an Innovation Policy Council, describing his vision for the economy as "socialism with an iPad".
McDonnell has explored ideas surrounding "alternative models of ownership", publishing a report on the subject in June 2017 and hosting a discussion conference in London in February 2018. The report sets out the "practicality and necessity of a shift to a variety of alternative forms of ownership and control of productive enterprises, including co-operatives, municipal and locally-led ownership forms, and ... new democratic forms of national ownership".
During his response to the 2015 Autumn Statement in which he accused George Osborne of "sheer economic illiteracy", McDonnell highlighted that the government was "selling off at least £5,000,000,000 worth of our own assets" to foreign investors, emphasising China. To make this point he quoted from a copy of Chairman Mao Zedong's Little Red Book and then threw it across the despatch box towards the Conservative front bench. A clearly amused Chancellor Osborne, responded by quipping that it was McDonnell's own signed copy.
On 29 September 2016, he was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and may therefore use the title The Right Honourable.
In 2017, McDonnell said: "I will be the first socialist Labour Chancellor". McDonnell in his Who’s Who entry posted one of his hobbies as "fermenting [sic] the overthrow of capitalism". In 2018, McDonnell said that he "wants to "overthrow capitalism" and replace it with a "socialist society"". He also said Venezuela's economic problems were because it was no longer a socialist country.
In September 2018, McDonnell said he would only back a second referendum on the European Union if the option to remain is not present. He also agreed with shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner, when he suggested a second referendum could lead to social unrest.
In February 2019, McDonnell sparked controversy when he referred to the former Prime Minister Winston Churchill as a "villain." Writing on Twitter, Boris Johnson said: "JM should be utterly ashamed of his remarks and withdraw them forthwith."
During a comprehensive interview conducted by former Labour Party member Alastair Campbell for British GQ in October 2019, McDonnell stated his disapproval of the former's expulsion from the party and indicated he would support his return. He also expressed his own view that the next party leader should be female, and that the party should employ positive discrimination to aid that prospect if Jeremy Corbyn were to lose the next general election. When asked to name any current Tory politician whom he respected, he declined, subsequently stating that he "can't forgive any of them". Campbell followed up by asking the same question about any historic Tories, to which McDonnell replied "No".
Upon the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party, McDonnell stood down as Shadow Chancellor and was succeeded by Anneliese Dodds.
Return to the backbenches (2020–present)
In February 2020, McDonnell met with Julian Assange at HM Prison Belmarsh.
He ran a campaign to pass a motion supporting proportional representation at the 2022 Labour Party conference after it failed in 2021 due to a lack of trade union support.
On 24 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, McDonnell was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the military alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures. McDonnell subsequently joined calls led by the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign for increased arms supplies to Ukraine and criticized those on the left who opposed it.
..... This came after members of the Labour left had been barred from running as Labour candidates at the next general election and some left wing sitting MPs such as Ian Byrne were forced to face re-selection by their local constituency parties. It also followed the October 2021 suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour whip.
In July 2024, McDonnell campaigned on and voted for the scrapping of the two child benefit cap which he opposed in 2015 when it was introduced under the Conservatives, defying the Labour whip. He was one of seven Labour MP's who voted in favour of a SNP motion to scrap the rule and as a result had the whip suspended for six months.
Political views
McDonnell is considered as being on the left of the Labour Party. He also opposed Britain going to war in Iraq.
Personal life
McDonnell has two daughters from his first marriage, which ended in 1985, and a son from his second marriage to Cynthia Pinto in 1995.
In 2013, McDonnell suffered a heart attack and was forced to take time off work.
While raised as a Roman Catholic and attending a minor seminary, McDonnell now identifies as an atheist. Despite this McDonnell still respects the Church and acknowledges that he owes a "debt" to it for shaping his politics, later saying "The values of Catholicism are the inherent values of the Labour Party and the inherent values of socialism".
Interview under police caution
On 19 January 2025, McDonnell, alongside former Jeremy Corbyn, agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London. The Metropolitan Police said they witnessed a "deliberate effort, including by protest organisers" to breach conditions that had been imposed on the event. However, it is unclear as to the specific reasons as to why McDonnell was invited to an interview.
See also
- Economics for the Many
- Labour Representation Committee
- Socialist Campaign Group
