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Catherine McKinnell

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Catherine McKinnell
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Minister of State for School Standards
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byDamian Hinds
Member of Parliament
for Newcastle upon Tyne North
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byDoug Henderson
Majority17,762 (36.5%)
Chair of the Petitions Committee
In office
29 January 2020 – 5 September 2023
Preceded byHelen Jones
Succeeded byCat Smith
Shadow portfolios
Shadow Cabinet
2015–2016Attorney General
Shadow Frontbench
2023–2024Schools
2013–2015Exchequer Secretary
2011–2013Children and Families
2010–2011Solicitor General
Personal details
Born
Catherine Grady

(1976-06-08) 8 June 1976 (age 48)
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Northumbria University
Websitecatherinemckinnellmp.co.uk

Catherine McKinnell (born 8 June 1976) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne North since 2010.[1] She has served as Minister of State for School Standards since July 2024.[2][3]

Early life and career

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Catherine McKinnell was born on 8 June 1976 in Newcastle upon Tyne, where she attended Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Fenham.[4] She studied politics and history at the University of Edinburgh.[5] After leaving Edinburgh, Catherine went on to study Law at Northumbria University.

After university, McKinnell worked as an employment solicitor at Dickinson Dees, a Newcastle law firm.[5]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2010 general election, McKinnell was elected to Parliament as MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North with a vote share of 40.8% and a majority of 3,414.[6][7][8][9]

In October 2010, the Labour Leader Ed Miliband appointed McKinnell to the role of Shadow Solicitor General, where she was responsible for the party's response to the News International phone hacking scandal.[10] She raised questions about the Crown Prosecution Service's handling of the scandal, including a question to the Attorney General in the House of Commons asking why the CPS had refused for so long to admit that there were grounds to bring prosecutions.[11]

In October 2011, during a shadow ministerial reshuffle, McKinnell was made shadow children's minister, shadowing Tim Loughton. In that post she criticised the adoption process as too slow and called for immediate improvements in support for social workers and family courts to speed up the process.[12][13] She also accused the government of doing too little to help children for whom adoption was not suitable and following this, requested a guarantee that the government would give priority to placing children in "happy homes."[14]

In June 2012, after the resignation of Peter Hain, she was then moved to become Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, replacing Owen Smith. McKinnell backed a campaign by ActionAid on international tax laws[15] and tabled amendments to the Budget which would have required the government to monitor the impact on developing countries of changes to so-called Controlled Foreign Companies regulations. She said, "It seems a false economy to invest ... in changes that will undermine the very progress towards which our international aid money, which increases year on year, is going".[16]

Also in June 2012, McKinnell publicly criticised Take That singer Gary Barlow following newspaper allegations of tax avoidance made against him. McKinnell agreed that Barlow should consider returning his recently awarded OBE if allegations of tax avoidance were proven "because it doesn't send out the right messages to ordinary people who are paying their fair share of tax".[17]

At the 2015 general election, McKinnell was re-elected as MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North with an increased vote share of 46.1% and an increased majority of 10,153.[18]

McKinnell was made Shadow Attorney General in September 2015 by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but resigned in January 2016, citing party infighting, family reasons and the ability to speak in parliament beyond her legal portfolio.[19] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[20]

McKinnell has been a prominent campaigner for the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign. In December 2015, following the acceleration of the equalisation of the State Pension Age, she argued that the acceleration has happened too quickly and left female pensioners uncertain.[21] McKinnell was also made Vice Chair of the recently established All-Party Parliamentary Group on the WASPI campaign.[22]

At the snap 2017 general election, McKinnell was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 55.4% and an increased majority of 10,349.[23][24] She was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 45.4% and a decreased majority of 5,765.[25]

In September 2020, McKinnell was appointed a vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel.[26]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle she returned to the frontbench as Shadow Schools Minister, replacing Stephen Morgan.[27]

At the 2024 general election, McKinnell was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 50.3% and an increased majority of 17,762.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Staff writer (4 July 2009). "Two North East MPs standing down". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Minister of State (Minister for School Standards) – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Catherine McKinnell". Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  5. ^ a b "About Catherine". Catherine McKinnell. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Election 2010 – Newcastle-upon-Tyne North". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/wwwfileroot/cxo/electoral/SPNNorth2010.pdf [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Newcastle Upon Tyne East". BBC News.
  10. ^ Ferguson, Mark (11 October 2010). "Junior front bench roles". Labour List. Archived from the original on 12 October 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  11. ^ Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North (5 July 2011). "Oral answers to questions, Attorney-General: Contempt of Court". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 1368–1369.
  12. ^ Brown, Jonathan (7 May 2012). "Fostering system on the brink as number of children in care soars". The Independent. London. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  13. ^ Ramesh, Randeep (14 March 2012). "Councils face scorecards in adoption overhaul". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  14. ^ "December 2011 Archives". Catherine McKinnell MP. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  15. ^ Jamieson, Cathy (19 June 2012). "@CatMcKinnellMP making a thoughtful and powerful speech. In Finance Bill Ctee on CFCs and developing countries". Twitter. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  16. ^ Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North (19 June 2012). "Public Bill Committee: Finance Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 479–481.
  17. ^ Staff writer (21 June 2012). "Cameron ducks Gary Barlow tax avoidance question". BBC News. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  19. ^ Staff writer (11 January 2016). "Labour's Catherine McKinnell quits shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  20. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  21. ^ Wearmouth, Rachel (9 December 2015). "Newcastle MP says Minister is leaving North East women 'high and dry' over State Pension age". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  22. ^ Walker, Jonathan (12 May 2016). "What our MPs are doing to help women hit by state pension age changes". Newcastle Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  23. ^ "UK general election on 8 June 2017 – North East, England". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  24. ^ "Election results 2017: Labour holds Newcastle and Sunderland". BBC News. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Newcastle upon Tyne North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  26. ^ Harpin, Lee (9 September 2020). "Labour Friends of Israel announces six new vice-chairs". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  27. ^ Belger, Tom (5 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle: Starmer unveils six new shadow ministers of state". LabourList. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Newcastle upon Tyne North - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Catherine McKinnell.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Newcastle upon Tyne North
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
2012–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Attorney General
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
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