Alison McGovern

Alison McGovern (born 30 December 1980) is a British Labour politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead since 2024, and previously Wirral South since 2010. She has served as Minister of State for Employment since July 2024.

Early life and career

Alison McGovern was born on 30 December 1980 in Clatterbridge. She is the granddaughter of songwriter and activist Peter McGovern, and is the daughter of a British Railways telecoms engineer father and a mother who was a nurse.

She was educated at Brookhurst Primary School, and then Wirral Grammar School for Girls, where she was the Head Girl from 1998 to 1999. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from University College London.

After graduating from university, she worked as a researcher at the House of Commons, before handling communications for development projects at Network Rail, then working for the Art Fund and Creativity, Culture and Education.

McGovern was first elected as a councillor for Brunswick Park in the London Borough of Southwark in 2006, later becoming the Deputy Leader of the borough council's 29-member group of Labour councillors.

Parliamentary career

At the 2010 general election, McGovern was elected to Parliament as MP for Wirral South with 40.8% of the vote and a majority of 531.

McGovern made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2010 in a debate on European Affairs.

She became former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's parliamentary private secretary in July 2010.

In November 2010. She was selected by the PLP to become a member of the International Development Select Committee.

In March 2011, she visited India as part of an International Development Select Committee delegation.

In the 2013 Labour reshuffle, she was added to the Shadow International Development team. In 2014, she was moved to the shadow Children and Families portfolio.

At the 2015 general election, McGovern was re-elected as MP for Wirral South with an increased vote share of 48.2% and an increased majority of 4,599.

In May 2015, McGovern was appointed Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury in Labour's Treasury team. She departed the opposition front bench after Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader in September 2015.

In October 2015, McGovern was appointed as Chair of Progress, a political organisation associated with the development of New Labour.

In January 2016, McGovern resigned from Labour's policy review on child poverty and combating inequality, as a protest against Progress being described by shadow Chancellor John McDonnell as having "a hard right agenda". She commented that she had been "backed into a corner". A Labour Party spokesperson stated "She is resigning from something that doesn't exist", as the initiative had not been confirmed or launched yet.

McGovern supported Owen Smith in the unsuccessful attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.

McGovern served as chair of the Advisory Committee on Works of Art from July 2016 until April 2020, when she rejoined the opposition front bench. In September 2016, she was elected co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group Friends of Syria.

At the snap 2017 general election, McGovern was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.2% and an increased majority of 8,323. She was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 51.2% and a decreased majority of 6,105.

In the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, McGovern supported Jess Phillips.

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, McGovern's constituency of Wirral South was abolished. She challenged Mick Whitley in Birkenhead for the Labour selection and was successful on 16 June 2023. At the 2024 general election, McGovern was elected to Parliament as MP for Birkenhead with 52% of the vote and a majority of 13,798. She was appointed a Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) in the new Labour Government. McGovern has called Job Centres the “most unloved public service”, and vowed to reform them.

McGovern is seen to be within the political right of the Labour Party and chairs Progressive Britain (formerly Progress), a group founded to support Tony Blair.

Personal life

In 2008 McGovern married economist Ashwin Kumar, formerly a senior civil servant in the Department for Work and Pensions and Passenger Director at Passenger Focus. The couple have a daughter, born in 2011.

References

External links

Alison McGovern MP
official site

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, Alison
1980 births
Living people
Alumni of University College London
Councillors in the London Borough of Southwark
English people of Irish descent
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
People educated at Wirral Grammar School for Girls
UK councillors 2006–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–2024
UK MPs 2024–present
21st-century British women politicians
Members of the Fabian Society
21st-century English women
21st-century English politicians
Women councillors in England
Politicians from Birkenhead