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Siobhain McDonagh

Dame Siobhain Ann McDonagh DBE (born 20 February 1960) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitcham and Morden since 1997. She served as an Assistant Whip in the Labour Government, but was dismissed following comments regarding a leadership contest to replace prime minister Gordon Brown.[1]

Dame Siobhain McDonagh
DBE MP
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Mitcham and Morden
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 May 1997
Preceded byAngela Rumbold
Majority18,761 (41.6%)
Assistant Government Whip
In office
28 June 2007 – 12 September 2008
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Succeeded byDawn Butler
Member of Merton Council
for Colliers Wood
In office
6 May 1982 – 7 May 1998
Personal details
Born (1960-02-20) 20 February 1960 (age 64)
Colliers Wood, Surrey, England
Political partyLabour
RelationsMargaret McDonagh (sister)
Alma materUniversity of Essex (BA)
Websitesiobhainmcdonagh.org.uk

Early life and career

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Siobhain McDonagh was born on 20 February 1960 in Colliers Wood. Her father was a builder and her mother a nurse who moved to the area in 1958.[2] She went to Holy Cross School, New Malden and later studied Politics at the University of Essex.

After graduating, McDonagh was a clerical officer for the DHSS between 1981 and 1983, a receptionist at the Wandsworth Homeless Persons Unit from 1984 to 1986, and a housing adviser from 1986 to 1988. Prior to being elected to Parliament she worked as a Development Manager for Battersea Churches Housing Trust from 1988 to 1997. She also served as a councillor on London Borough of Merton for Colliers Wood ward between 1982 and 1998, chairing the Housing Committee between 1990 and 1995, being instrumental in the rebuilding of Phipps Bridge Estate.

Parliamentary career

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At the 1997 general election, McDonagh was elected to Parliament as MP for Mitcham and Morden with 58.4% of the vote and a majority of 13,741.[3][4][5][6]

In April 2000, her office sent a party political questionnaire to 200 of her constituents using parliamentary resources. A spokesman for McDonagh subsequently said it was a "mistake". McDonagh promised to apologise and reimburse the cost to her office.[7]

She was again re-elected as MP for Mitcham and Morden at the 2001 general election with an increased vote share of 60.4% and an increased majority of 13,785.[8] After the 2001 general election, Tony Blair offered McDonagh the position of Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government. She declined the offer and remained a backbencher.

In March 2003, McDonagh voted in favour of the country going to war with Iraq.[9] She has consistently voted against any inquiry into the Iraq War.[10]

McDonagh was again re-elected at the 2005 general election, with a decreased vote share of 56.4% and a decreased majority of 12,560.[11][12] Following the 2005 general election, she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Reid until June 2007. She was appointed to the position of Assistant Whip in June 2007 in the re-shuffle brought about by Gordon Brown becoming prime minister.

In October 2007, her expenditure on stationery and postage attracted criticism, being more than any other MP's for postage from 2003 to 2006. In total, her office spent £126,833 on postage in the four-year period, an average of almost £32,000 per year. When adding in stationery costs, the expenditure was approximately £50,000 in both 2004–05 and 2006–07. McDonagh responded stating, "I believe the job of an MP is to keep in contact with constituents on important issues".[13]

On 12 September 2008, McDonagh became the first member of the government to call for a leadership contest, resulting in dismissal from her government post.[14]

McDonagh was again re-elected at the 2010 general election, with an increased vote share of 56.5% and an increased majority of 13,666.[15]

In October 2010, McDonagh's mobile phone was stolen from her car.[16] Although not implicated in the robbery itself, it became evident that The Sun newspaper had accessed the phone, including messages stored on it. McDonagh sued the paper and in March 2013 won "substantial damages."[17]

At the 2015 general election, McDonagh was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 60.7% and an increased majority of 16,922.[18][19]

In June 2015, McDonagh nominated Liz Kendall, considered the Blairite candidate, for leadership of the Labour Party.[20]

In December 2015, she was among the minority of Labour MPs who voted in favour of extending UK military airstrikes against ISIL into Syria. She has written that it was a decision "not easy to come to".[21]

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[22]

McDonagh abstained from a vote on a motion withdrawing the UK's support for Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen. The motion was defeated by a majority of 90.[23]

At the snap 2017 general election, McDonagh was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 68.7% and an increased majority of 21,375.[24][25][26]

In September 2018, McDonagh offered her support to Labour MP Chris Leslie when he faced a confidence motion from his CLP, a vote he subsequently lost.[27]

In March 2019, McDonagh was criticised by some left-wing members of the party after she appeared to agree with a statement put forward by John Humphrys on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. McDonagh said antisemitism is a problem in the Labour Party, because "part of [Labour] politics, of hard left politics, [is] to be against capitalists and to see Jewish people as the financiers of capital". When Humphrys asked her if that meant that "to be anti-capitalist you have to be antisemitic", McDonagh replied, "Yes".[28][29]

McDonagh was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 61.1% and a decreased majority of 16,482.[30]

McDonagh endorsed Jess Phillips in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[31]

McDonagh is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[32]

At the 2024 general election, McDonagh was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 55.4% and an increased majority of 18,761.[33]

Personal life

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McDonagh lived in Colliers Wood in her constituency with her late sister Margaret, latterly Baroness McDonagh (1961 - 2023),[34] who was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1998 and 2001, during Tony Blair's premiership.[35] She is a Roman Catholic[36] of Irish descent.[2]

In March 2023 McDonagh took a £1.2 million interest-free loan from Labour donor Lord Alli, to buy a house in south-west London with downstairs bedroom and bathroom suited for her terminally ill sister.[37]

She was a patron of Leap Forward Employment – a now defunct community interest company that found work for adults with mental health issues.[38]

McDonagh was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for parliamentary and political service.[39]

References

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  1. ^ "Whip sacked over leader bid call". BBC News. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b Siobhain McDonagh MP Archived 29 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  5. ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p.120 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
  6. ^ "'Mitcham and Morden', May 1997 -". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  7. ^ Waugh, Paul (26 April 2000). "MP to apologise over party survey on Commons paper". The Independent. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Iraq — Declaration of War — 18 Mar 2003 at 22:00". The Public Whip. 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Investigations into the Iraq War". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Mitcham & Morden". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  13. ^ Mulholland, Héléne (25 October 2007). "MP spends £35k on postage". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Whip sacked over leader bid call". BBC News. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Sun apologises for accessing MP's stolen phone". BBC. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  17. ^ "The Sun admits accessing messages from Labour whip's stolen phone while NI was under investigation over phone hacking – Press – Media". The Independent. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  19. ^ Services, CS-Democracy (7 May 2015). "Councillors". democracy.merton.gov.uk.
  20. ^ "Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election?". New Statesman. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  21. ^ McDonagh, Siobhain (1 December 2015). "Extending airstrikes on ISIL / Daesh targets in Syria". personal blog. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  23. ^ Stone, Jon (22 October 2016). "Labour MPs rebel against party's own motion calling for action on Saudi Arabian war crimes". The Independent. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  24. ^ "Merton Council Statement of Persons Nominated Mitcham and Morden General Election 2017" (PDF). Merton Council. Retrieved 13 April 2017.[permanent dead link]
  25. ^ "Mitcham & Morden parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  26. ^ http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  27. ^ Coulter, Martin (29 September 2018). "Corbyn-critic Labour MP Chris Leslie loses vote of no confidence". Politics Home. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  28. ^ Stone, Jon (4 March 2019). "Labour MP Siobhain Mcdonagh: to be anti-capitalism is to be anti-semitic". Nye Bevan News. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  29. ^ Cowles, Ben (4 March 2019). "Left-wing Jewish groups condemn McDonagh for appearing to suggest Jewish people control capitalism". Morning Star. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  30. ^ "Mitcham & Morden Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  31. ^ McDonagh, Siobhain (29 December 2019). "Labour members must elect a leader brave enough to listen". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  32. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". Labour Friends of Israel. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  33. ^ "Mitcham & Morden Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  34. ^ Bullen, Jamie (24 June 2023). "Labour's 'tour de force' Margaret McDonagh dies aged 61". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  35. ^ "Labour Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden". Siobhain McDonagh. 20 February 1960. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  36. ^ Oliver, Jonathan; Woolf, Marie (14 September 2008). "Will this woman bring down Gordon Brown". The Times. London. Retrieved 23 May 2010.[dead link]
  37. ^ Gibbons, Amy (26 September 2024). "Labour MP took £1.2m loan from Lord Alli to buy house for her sister". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  38. ^ "Home". Leap Forward Employment. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  39. ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N9.
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