Catherine McKinnell

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Catherine McKinnell
MP
Shadow Attorney General
In office
14 September 2015 – 11 January 2016
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by The Lord Bach
Succeeded by Karl Turner
Shadow Exchequer Secretary
In office
15 May 2012 – 8 October 2013
Leader Ed Miliband
Preceded by Owen Smith
Succeeded by Shabana Mahmood
Member of Parliament
for Newcastle upon Tyne North
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Doug Henderson
Majority 10,153 (22.6%)
Personal details
Born Catherine Grady
(1976-06-08) 8 June 1976 (age 48)
Denton, United Kingdom
Political party Labour
Alma mater University of Edinburgh
Website Official website

Catherine McKinnell (born 8 June 1976) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne North since 2010.[1] She was elected with 40.8% of the vote, and a majority of 3,414 over her Liberal Democrat rival.[2] She has held a number of Shadow Cabinet positions, most recently Shadow Attorney General until she resigned in January 2016.

Early life

McKinnell was born in Denton and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne, where she attended the Sacred Heart Comprehensive School in Fenham.[3] She studied politics and history at the University of Edinburgh.

Before her election to Parliament, McKinnell worked as an employment solicitor in the Newcastle law firm Dickinson Dees. She was one of 19 solicitors newly elected to the House of Commons.[4]

Political career

McKinnell was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election for Newcastle upon Tyne North. In October 2010, the new Labour Leader Ed Miliband appointed her to the role of Shadow Solicitor General, where she was responsible for the party's response to the News International phone hacking scandal.[5] She raised questions about the CPS's handling of the scandal, including asking in the House of Commons why the CPS had refused for so long to admit that there were grounds to bring prosecutions.[6]

In October 2011, during a shadow ministerial reshuffle, Catherine 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.[7][8] She also accused the government of doing too little to help children for whom adoption was not suitable.[9]

In 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[10] 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."[11] 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".[12]

She 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.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110705/debtext/110705-0001.htm#11070565000681
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ http://www.labour.org.uk/government-could-implement-these-adoption-reforms-today,2012-03-09
  10. ↑ https://twitter.com/CatMcKinnellMP/status/215047566201602049
  11. ↑ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmpublic/finance/120619/am/120619s01.htm
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35281203?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

External links

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
2012–2013		 Succeeded by
Shabana Mahmood
Preceded by Shadow Attorney General
2015–2016		 Succeeded by
Karl Turner
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Catherine_McKinnell&oldid=5470674"