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Josh MacAlister
British politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Joshua MacAlister[1] OBE (born March 1987) is a British Labour politician and former teacher who has been Member of Parliament for Whitehaven and Workington since 2024.[2][3] He has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families since 2025.[4]
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Early life and education
MacAlister's father worked as a social worker.[5]
MacAlister attained an MA (Hons) in politics and social policy at the University of Edinburgh. MacAlister served as President of the Edinburgh University Students’ Association.[6] In 2008, he unsuccessfully contested the Presidency of the National Union of Students Scotland.
MacAlister also studied for, and received, a masters degree in leadership in education at the University of Manchester.[7]
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Professional life
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Education
MacAlister trained as a teacher through the Teach First Programme and went on to teach citizenship for three and a half years at schools in Oldham.[8]
During his time as a teacher, MacAlister began to engage with young people with experience of the care system. These experiences led MacAlister to establish Frontline, a graduate social worker training programme modelled on Teach First, in 2013.[5] The first cohort began their training the following year.[7]
In 2019, the Department for Education provided Frontline with £45 million in funding.[9]
Independent Review of Children's Social Care
In January 2021 MacAlister stepped down from his role at Frontline in order to chair an independent review of children's social care.[9] MacAlister's appointment was criticized by some social work academics who questioned whether he could be impartial given that Frontline had received central government funding.[9]
In June 2021, the review published its interim findings. In October 2021 the review published a second report in response to the feedback received on the interim report. The final report of the review was published in May 2022.[10]
Awards
MacAlister was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the King's 2023 New Year's Honours for services to vulnerable children.[11]
Member of Parliament
In June 2023, MacAlister was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the newly created constituency of Whitehaven and Workington.[12]
At the 2024 general election, MacAlister was elected as the Member of Parliament for Whitehaven and Workington. MacAlister was elected with 53% of the vote and a majority of over 13,000 votes.[13]
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Personal life
In 2023 MacAlister joined his local mountain rescue team.[14] In July 2024, shortly after being elected as an MP, MacAlister was called out to a mountain rescue.[15]
In 2024, PinkNews listed him as an out LGBTQ+ parliamentarian.[16] He is married to educationalist Matthew Hood.[17]
References
External links
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