John McDonnell

John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997, representing the Labour Party until the whip was withdrawn and his suspension on 23 July 2024 as a result of voting to scrap the two child benefit cap. On the political left, McDonnell is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group.

He stood for the position of Labour Party leader following Tony Blair's resignation in 2007, but failed to reach the required number of nominations. He was a candidate for the party leadership again in 2010 following Gordon Brown's resignation after Labour's electoral defeat, but withdrew in favour of Diane Abbott, feeling that he would be unable to secure enough nominations.

Alongside Jeremy Corbyn, McDonnell has been seen as a major figure on the left-wing of the party. After being elected Labour leader in 2015, Corbyn appointed McDonnell to his Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. As Shadow Chancellor, McDonnell pledged to increase spending on infrastructure and research, describing his vision for the economy as "socialism with an iPad". Provided by Wikipedia