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Stewart McDonald (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Stuart McDonald (Scottish politician), the SNP MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East since 2015; or with Stewart MacDonald, a Scottish Labour member of East Dunbartonshire Council; or with Stuart McDonald (Australian politician).

Stewart McDonald
Official portrait, 2019
SNP Spokesperson for Defence in the House of Commons
In office
20 June 2017 – 8 December 2022
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byBrendan O'Hara
Succeeded byDave Doogan
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow South
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byTom Harris
Succeeded byGordon McKee
Personal details
Born
Stewart Malcolm McDonald

(1986-08-24) 24 August 1986 (age 38)
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party

Stewart Malcolm McDonald (born 24 August 1986) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Glasgow South constituency from May 2015 to May 2024. He was the SNP Spokesperson for Defence from 2017 to 2022, resigning after the election of Stephen Flynn as Leader.[1][2]

Early life and career

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Stewart McDonald was born on 25 August 1986 in Glasgow. His family moved to Govan when he was five years old, as his father was a janitor at a local primary school. He left Govan High School aged eighteen, and worked in a variety of jobs including as a retail manager and a holiday rep in Tenerife before becoming a parliamentary case worker for Anne McLaughlin.[3] After the 2011 Scottish Parliament Election, he became a case worker for James Dornan.[4]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2015 general election, McDonald was elected to Parliament as MP for Glasgow South with 54.9% of the vote and a majority of 12,269.[5][6][7]

In December 2015, McDonald came second place in the Beard Liberation Front's Parliamentary Beard of the Year Award.[8][9] He was reported to have come very close to winning first place, but was narrowly defeated by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after Diane Abbott urged people on Twitter to vote for Corbyn in the contest.[10]

McDonald was re-elected as MP for Glasgow South at the snap 2017 general election with a decreased vote share of 41.1% and a decreased majority of 2,027.[11][12]

In July 2017 McDonald introduced a Private Members' Bill to ban unpaid trial shifts for workers.[13][14] He called the practice "exploitation" for young job-seekers, with his Bill gaining the support of the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the National Union of Students among others.[15][16] In March 2018 the Bill was talked out of the Commons, meaning it could not be voted on.[17][18] A year on from when he first introduced the Bill, he vowed to "keep fighting" to end unpaid trial work.[19]

On 11 April 2018, as the SNP's Defence Spokesperson, McDonald warned Prime Minister Theresa May over launching airstrikes on Syria in response to the Douma chemical attack without first having the airstrikes approved by a parliamentary vote.[20] He said the SNP would support such airstrikes if they were part of a wider plan to bring an end to the war.[21][22] The UK launched airstrikes on 14 April without a parliamentary vote, which McDonald condemned as "gesture bombing".[23][24]

In August 2018, McDonald gave his support for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention to be available on the NHS.[25] He said that those opposing PrEP's introduction to the NHS were being homophobic,[26] and accused the UK government of "putting more hurdles in the way of the rollout of PrEP".[27]

McDonald has been a long-time supporter of transgender rights, and reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) in Scotland to make it easier for people to self-identify. He said in November 2019 that "I've always stood up for trans rights and I always will – there's no chance I'll desert a community that's integral to our wider movement for equality".[28] He had declared his support for Nicola Sturgeon in April 2019 when some SNP groups objected to her support of reforming the GRA.[29]

At the 2019 general election, McDonald was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 48.1% and an increased majority of 9,005 votes.[30][31][32]

McDonald is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.[33] In September 2021, McDonald said he was troubled by Scotland's relationship with China, which he claimed "opened the doorway to misinformation from Beijing".[34] He also claimed Russia has a history of disinformation running in Scotland and reported the show run by Alex Salmond (The Alex Salmond Show) on RT "lends credibility and legitimacy to Kremlin propaganda".[34]

McDonald is a republican and in January 2023 called for a debate over the existence of the British monarchy in an independent Scotland.[35]

In June 2024, McDonald was reselected as the SNP candidate for Glasgow South at the 2024 general election,[36] but was defeated by the Labour candidate, Gordon McKee.

Personal life

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McDonald is gay, and on 19 May 2015 gathered with other LGBT SNP MPs to campaign for a "Yes" vote in the Irish referendum on same-sex marriage, being held three days later.[37] He is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[38]

Honours and awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Scottish National Party Spokespersons". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Second SNP MP resigns from Westminster frontbench after Stephen Flynn takeover". The National. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs". David Leask. The Herald. 1 June 2015. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  4. ^ Paterson, Stewart (7 November 2014). "General election: battle for Glasgow". Evening Times. Newsquest. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Glasgow South Parliamentary constituency". BBC Election 2015. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ^ "25Aug15". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Stewart McDonald is within a whisker of triumph in Parliamentary Beard of the Year contest". The National. 5 December 2015. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  9. ^ Perraudin, Frances (11 December 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn wins parliamentary beard of the year by a whisker". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  10. ^ Bloom, Dan (10 December 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn 'has won Beard of the Year by a whisker' after a last-minute surge". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Glasgow South parliamentary constituency – Election 2017". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Unpaid Trial Shifts: Young People Working 40 Hours For Free In Desperate Bids To Find Jobs". HuffPost UK. 9 October 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  14. ^ "MP launches bid to outlaw 'unscrupulous' unpaid work trials". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Campaign to end unpaid 'trial shifts'". BBC News. 24 December 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Stewart McDonald introduces private members' bill to ban unpaid trial shifts". Holyrood Magazine. 17 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  17. ^ "MP's bid to ban unpaid trial shifts fails". BBC News. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  18. ^ "MP vows to fight on after Bill banning unpaid trial shifts is talked out". The National. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  19. ^ McDonald, Stewart (19 July 2018). "SNP MP vows to keep fighting against exploitative unpaid trial shifts". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  20. ^ "SNP call for Commons vote on UK role in Syria". The Scotsman. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  21. ^ Paterson, Stewart (11 April 2018). "SNP MP warns May over launching strikes on Syria". Evening Times. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  22. ^ Macdonell, Hamish (12 April 2018). "SNP urges May to rethink Syria raids". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  23. ^ Schofield, Kevin (14 April 2018). "SNP accuse Theresa May of 'gesture bombing' over Syria military action". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  24. ^ Cullen, Ellie (14 April 2018). "Scots politicans [sic] blast Theresa May as Britain launches air strikes on Syria". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 20 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  25. ^ "MPs Warn Delay In HIV Prevention Drug Will Lead To Death Of Hundreds". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  26. ^ "There's a whiff of homophobia surrounding the PrEP debate". politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  27. ^ "PrEP: The Right Thing To Do And A Reminder Of Just How Wrong We Were". HuffPost UK. 11 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  28. ^ Stewart McDonald MP [@stewartmcdonald] (6 November 2019). "I've always stood up for trans rights and I always will – there's no chance I'll desert a community that's integral to our wider movement for equality" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ "SNP MSPs criticise Nicola Sturgeon over trans rights". BBC News. 17 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  30. ^ "Glasgow South parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  31. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  32. ^ Renton, Dawn (13 December 2019). "General Election 2019: SNP hold Glasgow Central and Glasgow South seats". Glasgow World. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  33. ^ "Stewart McDonald MP". Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  34. ^ a b Mackay, Neil (26 September 2021). "Neil Mackay's Big Read: SNP MP's warning over Russian disinformation ops targeting Indyref2". The Herald. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  35. ^ Brawn, Steph (26 January 2023). "'SNP should debate monarchy views as coronation approaches'". The National. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  36. ^ https://glasgow.gov.uk/media/12225/Glasgow-South/pdf/SOUTH_-_SOPN_and_NOP.pdf?m=1717783316367 [bare URL]
  37. ^ ""The Gayest Group in Westminster" is urging Ireland to vote Yes to same-sex marriage". BuzzFeed. 19 May 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  38. ^ "Stewart McDonald MP". www.secularism.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  39. ^ "Jack Laurenson: Ukraine's Friend and Foe of the Week | KyivPost – Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Glasgow South
2015–2024 		Succeeded by
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