Join the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at QUB for 'Towards a Sustainable and Just Economy' with John McDonnell MP

Please note, this event will take place in person at Queens University Belfast

John McDonnell MP

Born in Liverpool, the son of Liverpool docker and shopworker, John’s family moved to the south of England for work; his father became a bus driver and was a branch secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union and his mother worked behind the counter in British Home Stores. After school John worked on the shopfloor, studying at night school before attending university, gaining BSc and Masters Degrees.

During this period he was also the housefather of a small family unit children’s home in Hayes and was active in numerous community groups and campaigns and for his union, NUPE. He became an official of the NUM and later the TUC. In 1981 he was elected to the GLC and served as the Finance chair and deputy leader. After the Tories’ abolition of the GLC John became policy head at Camden Council and then Chief Executive of the Association of London Government, representing the London Boroughs in their relations with central government and European institutions.

John was elected for Hayes and Harlington in 1997, where he has lived for over 45 years. He has gained a reputation for his hard work as a local community MP, campaigning for investment in local public services and the economy and to protect the local environment, including opposing a 3rd runway at Heathrow.

Co-ordinating a number of trade union Parliamentary groups, John is an active campaigner for trade union rights and is extremely active in a wide range of social movements aimed at tackling inequality and poverty within our society and globally. He is an active member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.

John served as Shadow Chancellor from 2015 to 2020, transforming the Labour Party’s economic policy by developing a radical socialist programme aimed at redistributing wealth and power within our society and addressing the threat of climate catastrophe. Since then he has launched a number of socialist projects, including the Claim the Future initiative, to link policy researchers and think tanks to social movement and Labour and trade union movement campaigns.