John Martin McDonnell is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997.
Official portrait, 2021
McDonnell with opponents of the Heathrow Airport expansion outside Central London County Court, 2012
McDonnell after giving his 2016 Labour Party Conference speech, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
McDonnell with members of the British Sikh community in April 2018
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition and has no formal constitutional role, but is generally considered the second-most senior position on the opposition frontbench, after the Leader. Past Shadow Chancellors include Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Edward Heath, Geoffrey Howe, Kenneth Clarke, Gordon Brown, and John McDonnell.
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Image: Robert Carr 2