- John McDonnell (politician)
Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = John McDonnell
honorific-suffix =MP
|150px
constituency_MP = Hayes and Harlington
parliament =
majority = 10,847 (33.5%)
predecessor =Terence Dicks
successor =Incumbent
term_start =1 May 1997
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1951|9|8|df=yes
birth_place =Liverpool ,England
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =Brunel University
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website = [http://www.john-mcdonnell.net/ www.john-mcdonnell.net]
footnotes =John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951 in
Liverpool ,England ) is a British politician and LabourMember of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington. He is Chair of theSocialist Campaign Group of MPs, the Labour Representation Committee, and Public Services Not Private Profit. McDonnell stood unsuccessfully againstGordon Brown for the post of Labour Party leader followingTony Blair 's resignation as leader, failing at the nominations stage. [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6660565.stm | title=Brown will enter No 10 unopposed | work=BBC News | date=16 May, 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-16]Early and personal life
McDonnell was born the son of a docker and shopworker, both Irish
immigrants Fact|date=May 2008. When he was very young, his family moved to the south of England; his father became abus driver and was a branch secretary with theTransport and General Workers' Union . McDonnell attended Great Yarmouth Grammar School (becameGreat Yarmouth High School in 1981) on "Salisbury Road" inGreat Yarmouth , but left at the age of 17. Afterwards, he held a series of unskilled jobs. After marrying his first wife, he studied for A-levels at night school atBurnley Technical College , and at the age of 23 he moved to Hayes inGreater London to attendBrunel University for a BSc in Government and [http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/acad/sss/depts/politics 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 NUPE. After completing his MSc in [http://www.bbk.ac.uk/polsoc/ Politics and Sociology] at Birkbeck College he became a researcher and official with the NUM from 1977-8, and later the TUC from 1978-82. From 1985-7, he was Head of the Policy Unit at Camden Borough Council, then Chief Executive of the Association of London Authorities from 1987-95 and the [http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk Association of London Government] from 1995-7.McDonnell has two daughters from his first marriage, which ended in 1985, and a son from his second marriage to Cynthia Pinto in 1995 [cite web | url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labourleadership/story/0,,1820366,00.html | title=Who is John McDonnell? | date=14 July, 2006| accessdate=2007-01-10 | author=Hélène Mulholland | work=
The Guardian ] cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6104310.stm | title=Honest John | date=26 September, 2006 | accessdate=2007-01-10 | author=Ronan Bennett | work=The Guardian ] .Greater London Council
In 1981, McDonnell was elected to the
Greater London Council (GLC) as a member for Hayes and Harlington. He became the Chair of Finance, responsible for theGreater London Council 's budget, and wasKen Livingstone 's deputy leader. In an interview withRonan Bennett for "The Guardian " newspaper, he described his role during this time as being, "to translate policies into concrete realities on the ground." He further discussed his performance by indicating, "I was a fairly hard-nosed administrator. We set in train policies for which we were attacked from all sides but are now accepted as mainstream: large-scale investment in public services; raising the issue of Ireland and arguing for a dialogs for peace; equal opportunities; police accountability. We set up a women's committee, an ethnic minorities committee".Livingstone removed McDonnell from the post of deputy leader in 1985, shortly after they came into conflict over the GLC's budget.
Margaret Thatcher 's government first cut central government funding to local government, and then introduced rate capping, preventing selected councils from raising local taxation beyond a set level as a means of reducing public spending. Encouraged by the success of theLiverpool City Council , which delayed issuing a budget in 1984 until the government agreed to restore some funding cuts, twelve Labour councils that had the cap imposed on them chose not to set a rate at all in the spring of 1985, demanding that the government lift the cap. The GLC also faced capping, and McDonnell headed a campaign amongst Labour members to adopt this strategy in response. Unlike the local councils, however, the GLC faced a legal obligation to set a rate by mid-March. McDonnell contended that accepting the cap would lead to a reduction in spending and prevent the GLC, which had already lost all of its funding from central government, from honoring the manifesto pledges Labour had elected in 1981.In his book "If Voting Changed Anything, They'd Abolish It", Livingstone outlines his belief that McDonnell presented exaggerated figures in order to support his proposal. Despite paying lip-service to the "no rate" campaign, Livingstone set a legal rate on schedule that was passed by the GLC with the support of Conservative members.
Post GLC
Following the abolition of the GLC, McDonnell was employed as head of the policy unit at
Camden Council . In 1987, he became Chief Executive of the Association of London Authorities (eventually theAssociation of London Government ), where he represented all theLondon Borough s in their relations with central government andEurope .In 1992, McDonnell fought for his home town seat of Hayes and Harlington, but lost by 53 votes. During the campaign, his Conservative opponent
Terence Dicks sued forlibel over critical material in McDonnell's campaign leaflets; McDonnell settled and paid Dicks £15,000 plus legal costs, which amounted to £55,000 [cite web | url=http://www.steveplatt.net/archive/newstatesman/johnmajor/majorpaperboy.htm | title=Would you sue your paper boy? | author=Steve Platt | work=New Statesman | date=12 March 1993 | accessdate=2006-11-01] . An appeal for funds through left-wing campaigning groups paid the bill.Parliament
In the 1997 general election, McDonnell was elected to Parliament with 62% of the vote and a 13,000-vote majority. He has been involved in several local community campaigns, including one against the expansion of
Heathrow airport and its impact on local communities.He has voted against controversial government policies such as the 2003
Iraq war ,Foundation hospitals , studenttop-up fees ,Trust school s and anti-terror laws. In May 2003, he praised theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), saying, "It's about time we started honoring those people involved in thearmed struggle . It was the bombs and bullets and sacrifice made by the likes ofBobby Sands that brought Britain to the negotiating table. The peace we have now is due to the action of the IRA." He later said that the, "deaths of innocent civilians in IRA attacks is a real tragedy, but it was as a result of British occupation in Ireland. Because of the bravery of the IRA and people like Bobby Sands we now have a peace process" [cite web | url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4680344-103588,00.html | title=MP's 'brave IRA' comments spark outrage | author=Tom Happold | work=The Guardian | date=30 May, 2003 | accessdate=2006-11-01] .McDonnell is a leading member of a number of all-party groups within Parliament, including groups representing individual trade unions, such as the
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), theNational Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), theFire Brigades Union (FBU), theNational 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 andKenya .McDonnell chairs the Labour Representation Committee, 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.McDonnell is also the chair of
Public Services Not Private Profit , an anti-privatization campaign that brings together 16 trade unions and several campaigning organizations, such as theWorld Development Movement ,Defend Council Housing and theNational Pensioners Convention . Anearly day motion in support of the campaign attracted more than 90 MPs [cite web | url=http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=30421&SESSION=875 | title=Early Day Motion | date=29 March, 2006 | accessdate=2006-11-01] . The campaign held a mass rally and lobby of Parliament on27 June 2006 , attended by more than two thousand trade unionists [cite web | url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,1807050,00.html | title=Campaigners demand halt to privatisation | author=Hélène Mulholland | date=27 June, 2006 | accessdate=2006-11-01 | work=The Guardian ] . Ex-ministersFrank Dobson andMichael Meacher were among those who addressed the rally.On
31 October 2006 , McDonnell was one of 12 Labour MPs to backPlaid Cymru and theScottish National Party 's call for an inquiry into theIraq War [cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6104310.stm | title=Labour MPs who rebelled on Iraq | date=31 October, 2006 | accessdate=2006-10-31 | work=BBC News] .According to an article in "
TamilNet ," John McDonnell and fellow MPJeremy Corbyn signed a petition calling on the UK to lift a ban on theLTTE , which is listed as a terrorist group by theEuropean Union [http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20755] .McDonnell is one of 70 MPs who have signed an
early day motion calling for an extension for the period of copyright protection, against the advice of theGowers Review and theEuropean Commission [cite web | url=http://www.openrightsgroup.org/2007/05/14/copyright-extension-seems-our-mps-havent-been-doing-their-homework | title=Copyright extension: Seems our MPs haven’t been doing their homework | date=14 May, 2007 | accessdate=2007-05-15] .2007 party leadership campaign
On
14 July 2006 , McDonnell announced that he intended to stand for leadership of the Labour Party as Tony Blair announced 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. He intended to re-nationalize the railways, scrap student tuition fees, and removefoundation hospitals Fact|date=March 2007. This would contrast theNew Labour era of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. McDonnell was also notable for hisanti-war platform, having voted against the decision for the United Kingdom to form part of the US-led coalition in theWar in Iraq .Initially, McDonnell and
Michael Meacher were the two candidates representing theleft wing of the party. McDonnell's campaign concentrated on grassroots efforts, which earned him endorsements from theTrades Union Congress [ [http://www.john4leader.org.uk/latestnews/0016.html John McDonnell MP: Another World Is Possible ] ]ASLEF , the annual conference of the Labour Representation Committee, and various other left wing groups. In aYouGov opinion poll of more than 1,100 Labour Party members on their preferred choice in the leadership contest, McDonnell received 9% support, and was ranked second toGordon Brown who led with 80% of the vote [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1720004.ece "Blair under pressure as Labour faces election rout"] by David Smith and Isabel Oakeshott, "The Sunday Times ",29 April ,2007 .] . Declared supporters includedTony Benn ,David Drew andRonnie Campbell . Eleven Labour MPs declared their support on McDonnell's campaign website, includingLinda Riordan ,Bill Etherington ,Mike Wood ,Frank Cook ,Michael Clapham ,Diane Abbott ,Bob Wareing ,Neil Gerrard andAnn Cryer [ [http://www.john4leader.org.uk/endorsements.html John McDonnell MP: Another World Is Possible ] ] .Labour Party rules require candidates to be nominated by 12.55% of Labour MPs (45 out of a total of 355 in 2007). McDonnell and Meacher's campaign teams reached an agreement that when the contest began, the candidate with the least pledged nominations from MPs would drop out. Meacher withdrew on
14 May 2007 , endorsing McDonnell. However, Gordon Brown received 308 nominations, making it impossible for McDonnell to collect the 45 nominations required to proceed to the Electoral College and as the only nominated candidate Gordon Brown was declared leader by the NEC.References
External links
* [http://www.john4leader.org.uk/ John4Leader campaign website]
* [http://www.john-mcdonnell.net/ John McDonnell MP] constituency website
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/John+McDonnell/ ePolitix - John McDonnell MP]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3825,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: John McDonnell MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_mcdonnell/hayes_and_harlington TheyWorkForYou.com - John McDonnell MP]
* [http://publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=John_McDonnell&mpc=Hayes+%26amp%3B+Harlington The Public Whip - John McDonnell MP] voting record
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/206.stm BBC News - John McDonnell] profile 10 February, 2005
* [http://www.publicnotprivate.org.uk Public Services Not Private Profit]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiSVKvokCr0 YouTube - John Speaking at Stop the War Alternative Conference]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0tsnObvVHg You Tube - John McDonnell MP - Against Islamophobia]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Asuqx_Gzec You Tube - John McDonnell MP - Speaking at Ceasefire Now demorstation in London]
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