Andy McDonald

Who is Andy McDonald?

Andrew Joseph "Andy" McDonald (born 8 March 1958) is a British Labour politician and solicitor. He has been the Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2012. McDonald was born in Acklam, Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire. He worked as a lawyer for over a quarter of a century and rose to be Senior Serious Injury Solicitor at the Middlesbrough office of Thompsons Solicitors and to lead the firm's Serious Injury Unit for the Cumbria, Humberside, North East, and Yorkshire areas. He was also the firm's Head of Military Claims for members of the British Armed Forces. Whilst working for the firm, McDonald acted as a special adviser to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee for its 2003 report on Armed Forces Pensions and Compensation. He has also served as both Chair and as Secretary of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers' Military Special Interest Group and was a founder member of The Royal British Legion's Solicitors Group. McDonald was involved in various good causes in the Middlesbrough area. He was a governor of Abingdon Primary School for fifteen years until 2010 and became a governor of Middlesbrough College in 2012. He has also been chair of two local charities, the Davison Trust, which works with children with special needs, and the Teesside branch of Headway, which works with people with brain injuries. McDonald was active in local politics in Middlesbrough for many years. He served as councillor for Westbourne ward from 1995 to 1999. At the time of his selection as a parliamentary candidate, he was chairman of Middlesbrough Labour Party Local Government Committee. Labour shortlisted McDonald as a potential candidate for the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the 2010 United Kingdom general election. However, Tom Blenkinsop was the eventual choice. McDonald became a parliamentarian when he won the Middlesbrough by-election held on 29 November 2012, retaining the seat for Labour following the death of Sir Stuart Bell. McDonald increased the party's share of the vote to 60.5% though his majority was reduced by 500 to 8,211.