John McDonnell

John McDonnell
Official portrait, 2021
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
13 September 2015 – 5 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byChris Leslie
Succeeded byAnneliese Dodds
Deputy Leader of the Greater London Council
In office
7 May 1984 – 7 May 1985
LeaderKen Livingstone
Preceded byIlltyd Harrington
Succeeded byMichael Ward
Chair of the Finance and General Purposes committee
In office
11 May 1982 – 21 May 1985
LeaderKen Livingstone
Preceded byDr Anthony Hart
Succeeded byAlex Mackay
Member of Parliament
for Hayes and Harlington
Assumed office
1 May 1997
Preceded byTerry Dicks
Majority12,031 (31.4%)
Member of the Greater London Council
for Hayes and Harlington
In office
7 May 1981 – 31 March 1986
Preceded byArthur H. S. Hull
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born
John Martin McDonnell

(1951-09-08) 8 September 1951 (age 73)
Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Political partyIndependent
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Labour Party (1981–2024; suspended and whip withdrawn)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)
Children3
EducationGreat Yarmouth Grammar School
St Joseph's College, Ipswich
Burnley Technical College[1]
Alma materBrunel University
Birkbeck, University of London
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

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the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997, representing the Labour Party until the whip was withdrawn and his suspension on 23 July 2024 as a result of voting to scrap the two child benefit cap.[2] On the political left, McDonnell is a member of the Socialist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.[3] He was a candidate for the party leadership again in 2010 following Gordon Brown's resignation after Labour's electoral defeat,[4] but withdrew in favour of Diane Abbott, feeling that he would be unable to secure enough nominations.[5]

Alongside Jeremy Corbyn, McDonnell has been seen as a major figure on the left-wing of the party.[6] 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".[7]

  1. ^ "A profile of John McDonnell – new shadow chancellor". BBC News. BBC. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Labour suspends seven rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap | Labour | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com.
  3. ^ "Brown will enter No 10 unopposed". BBC News. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  4. ^ "Labour MP John McDonnell to stand in the leadership campaign". Daily Mirror. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  5. ^ McDonnell, John (9 June 2010). "I'm withdrawing from Labour leadership race". Labour Representation Committee. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  6. ^ Hall, Duncan (2011). A2 Government and Politics: Ideologies and Ideologies in Action. Lulu.com. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-1-4477-3399-7.[self-published source]
  7. ^ "Labour wants 'socialism with an iPad' says McDonnell". BBC News. 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2019.