John McDonnell
 John McDonnell      (politician) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | John Martin McDonnell 1951-09-08 Liverpool, England |
| Alma mater | Brunel University London, Birkbeck College, University of London |
| Spouse | Marilyn Jean Cooper |
| Member of | Belmarsh Tribunal |
| Party | Labour |
John McDonnell is a UK Labour Party politician who is Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
In a 9 December 2019 speech, John McDonnell predicted that Labour will win a majority in the UK/2019 General Election and set out the main priorities and budget for the first one hundred days of a Labour government, pledging to end Tory cuts to public spending and social security:
- "I think what you’ll see is, despite what’s happening in the opinion polls, although the opinion polls have consistently being trending towards us, I think you’ll see, as some of you were shocked in the UK/2017 General Election, I think you’ll be even more shocked this time."[1]
Career
On 13 September 2015, McDonnell became Labour's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
On 30 June 2016 Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, blamed Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for refusing to allow Jeremy Corbyn to resign, saying he had tried to get a "negotiated settlement but he was unwilling to move from the position he is in. We are still in an impasse".
- "He has obviously been told to stay by his close ally John McDonnell. They are a team and they have decided they are going to tough this out. So it looks like the Labour Party is heading for some kind of contested election."
Opinions
McDonnell dismissed the claim as "ludicrous" and indicated that he was confident Jeremy Corbyn would see off any challenge to his leadership. Addressing students at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he bitterly condemned the MPs trying to oust Mr Corbyn:
- "It was like a lynch mob without the rope," he said. "If Jeremy had walked on water during the EU Referendum campaign he would have been blamed for the loss. What we are watching is a leadership coup."[2]
In March 2018, With respect to the Skripal affair, John McDonnell stated that he "agrees with the prime minister" Theresa May that Vladimir Putin "is responsible and all the evidence points to him".[3]
Related Documents
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Labour left breaks with Jeremy Corbyn over sending weapons to Ukraine | Article | 26 February 2023 | Toby Helm | The far left wing of the Labour Party has split from Jeremy Corbyn on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine |
| Document:Margaret Hodge reflects on Jeremy Corbyn | interview | 16 August 2016 | Peter Hennessy | I know John McDonnell and Ken Livingstone. And I've known Jeremy Corbyn for 35 years when he first became the MP for Islington North and I was leader of Islington Council in local government. I know what they're about: they want the party to be a movement. |
