Andy McDonald

A prominent adversary of the so-called bedroom tax and the privatisation of the East Coast Main Line, Andy McDonald is a Labour frontbencher known for his legal prowess. McDonald has served as the MP for Middlesbrough since 2012. Before becoming an MP for the area, McDonald was heavily involved at the local government level, serving as a councillor for the Westbourne ward from 1995 to 1999 and going on to act as the chairman of the Middlesbrough Labour party. Outside of politics, McDonald worked as a serious injury solicitor for over two decades, going on to head of military claims for members of the British Armed Forces. He also acted as a special adviser to the House of Commons defence Select Committee for its 2003 report on Armed Forces Pensions and Compensation. Currently, McDonald is a former member of the justice committee and the shadow secretary of state for employment rights. Over the years, McDonald has also served as shadow secretary of state for transport, shadow minister for rail, parliamentary private secretary to the shadow chancellor and shadow business secretary, and shadow attorney general. In 2018, McDonald wrote to the then-home secretary Sajid Javid to consider a blanket exemption on the use of cannabis oil to alleviate epileptic seizures following the tragic death of his son. McDonald was praised by some for his 2019 BBC radio interview with John Humphrys during which McDonald scolded and questioned the host for denying facts regarding recent comments made by Donald Trump and the Brexit Party.