Dame Siobhain McDonagh | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament for Mitcham and Morden | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Angela Rumbold |
| Majority | 16,482 (36.0%) |
| Assistant Government Whip | |
| In office 28 June 2007 – 12 September 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Succeeded by | Dawn Butler |
| Member of Merton Council for Colliers Wood | |
| In office 6 May 1982 – 7 May 1998 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 February 1960 Colliers Wood, Surrey, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Relations | Margaret McDonagh (sister) |
| Alma mater | University of Essex (BA) |
| Website | siobhainmcdonagh |
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 the 1997 general election. 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]
McDonagh's father was a builder and her mother a nurse who moved to the area in 1958,[2] she was educated at the Holy Cross School, New Malden and later studied Politics at the University of Essex.
She 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.
McDonagh was first elected in the 1997 election for Labour, having been selected through an all-women shortlist,[3] defeating the Conservative incumbent, Dame Angela Rumbold, to whom she had lost in the 1987 and 1992 General Elections,[4] on a swing of 11.6% of the votes, similar to the national average.
Following the 2001 election, prime minister 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. Following the May 2005 general election, she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dr. John Reid while he was Secretary of State for Defence and from May 2006 to June 2007 Home Secretary. She was appointed to the position of Assistant Whip in June 2007 in the re-shuffle brought about by Gordon Brown becoming prime minister.
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.[5]
In June 2015, McDonagh nominated Liz Kendall, considered the Blairite candidate, for leadership of the Labour Party.[6] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[7]
In 2018, McDonagh offered her support to Labour MP Chris Leslie when he faced a confidence motion from his CLP, a vote he subsequently lost.[8]
McDonagh endorsed Jess Phillips in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[9]
In March 2003, McDonagh voted in favour of the country going to war with Iraq.[10] She has consistently voted against any inquiry into the Iraq War.[11]
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".[12]
McDonagh abstained from a vote about the UK's support for Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen. The vote was defeated by a majority of 90. As noted by commentators, the vote would have succeeded if 97 Labour MPs had not abstained.[13]
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Main article: United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal |
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.[14]
In 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.[15] McDonagh responded stating, "I believe the job of an MP is to keep in contact with constituents on important issues."[16]
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Main article: News International phone hacking scandal |
In October 2010, her mobile phone was stolen from her car.[17] Although not implicated in the robbery itself, it became evident that The Sun newspaper had accessed the phone, including messages stored on it. She sued the paper and in March 2013 won "substantial damages."[18]
In 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."[19][20]
McDonagh lived in Colliers Wood in her constituency with her late sister Baroness McDonagh (1961 - 2023),[21] who was General Secretary of the Labour Party between 1998 and 2001, during Tony Blair's premiership.[22] She is a Roman Catholic[23] of Irish descent.[2]
She was a patron of Leap Forward Employment – a now defunct community interest company that found work for adults with mental health issues.[24]
McDonagh was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for parliamentary and political service.[25]
