Kerry McCarthy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kerry McCarthy
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Official portrait, 2024
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| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate | |
| Assumed office 9 July 2024 |
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| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Shadow Minister for Climate Change | |
| In office 29 June 2022 – 5 July 2024 |
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| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Olivia Blake |
| Succeeded by | TBC |
| Shadow Minister for Green Transport | |
| In office 9 April 2020 – 4 December 2021 |
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| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Gill Furniss |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | |
| In office 13 September 2015 – 26 June 2016 |
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| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Maria Eagle |
| Succeeded by | Rachael Maskell |
| Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
| In office 7 October 2011 – 13 September 2015 |
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| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | Emma Reynolds |
| Succeeded by | Diana Johnson |
| Shadow Treasury Minister | |
| In office 8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011 |
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| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | Position Abolished |
| Shadow Minister for Disabled People | |
| Acting 6 May 2010 – 8 October 2010 |
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| Leader | Harriet Harman |
| Preceded by | Mark Harper |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Curran |
| Member of Parliament for Bristol East |
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| Assumed office 5 May 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Jean Corston |
| Majority | 6,606 (14.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Kerry Gillian McCarthy
26 March 1965 Luton, Bedfordshire, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Residences | Bristol, England London, England Luton, Bedfordshire, England |
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool London Guildhall University University of London |
Kerry Gillian McCarthy (born 26 March 1965) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol East since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, She was Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2015 to 2016. She has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate since July 2024.
Early life and career
McCarthy was born in Luton, where she attended Denbigh High School, followed by Luton Sixth Form College. McCarthy studied at the University of Liverpool reading Russian Studies, before studying law at City of London Polytechnic.
McCarthy qualified as a solicitor in 1994 and worked as a lawyer for Abbey National Treasury Services (1994–1996), Merrill Lynch Europe (1996–1999) and the Labour Party (2001). She was a director of London Luton Airport Ltd (1999–2003), a director at Britain in Europe (2002–2004), and Head of Public Policy at the Waterfront Partnership (2004–2005).
McCarthy began a doctorate on Labour links with the City of London at Goldsmiths' College, but did not complete it. She was a councillor in Luton, and was a member of Labour's National Policy Forum.
Parliamentary career
In 2005, McCarthy was selected as the Labour candidate for Bristol East through an all-women shortlist and retained the seat for her party at the 2005 general election. She was appointed a member of the Treasury Select Committee, and was involved in its inquiries into financial inclusion, globalisation and the role of the International Monetary Fund, and the administration of tax credits. She has also sat on two Finance Bill committees, as well as the UK Borders Bill Committee, the Offender Management Bill Committee and the Mental Health Bill Committee. She was described as a Gordon Brown loyalist, stating in 2005 that "The Chancellor's nine Budgets are the bedrock of all that we have achieved in government".
In April 2007, McCarthy was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rosie Winterton, Minister for Health Services, and helped her steer the Mental Health Bill through the Commons. From July 2007 to January 2009, she worked as PPS to Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for International Development, before being made a Junior Whip in June 2009. She is chair of the South West Group of Labour MPs, secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Somaliland, a member of Labour's National Policy Forum, and lead contact for the End Child Poverty campaign among Labour MPs in parliament.
She was re-elected at the 2010 General Election, with her majority reduced by more than a half. McCarthy was appointed as an acting Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions in May 2010 with responsibility for disability. She supported Ed Balls in the 2010 Labour leadership election, and became a junior Shadow Treasury Minister following Ed Miliband's election in October 2010. In September 2011, McCarthy was made Shadow Foreign Office Minister with a responsibility for East Asia, South Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and human rights.
On World Vegan Day in November 2011, McCarthy became the first MP to set out in Parliament the case for becoming vegan. She is also believed to be the first MP to deliver a speech in Parliament with the aid of an iPad.
After being re-elected with an increased majority in the 2015 General Election, McCarthy nominated Andy Burnham in that year's Labour leadership campaign. She was appointed by Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September 2015. She argued in a Spring 2015 interview with Viva!life, a magazine for vegans, that meat should be treated like tobacco, with "public campaigns to stop people eating it". Tim Bonner of the Countryside Alliance said her opinions "are completely out of step with the vast majority of people". "The world is not going to turn vegan because I am in post", McCarthy said on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today shortly after her appointment. "I have my own personal views on what I choose to eat, but I accept that we have a livestock industry in this country. What I want is for the industry to have the best welfare standards possible, to be sustainable as well as economically viable."
On 26 June 2016, McCarthy was among dozens of shadow ministers who resigned from Corbyn's team. She argued that "a new leader is needed to take on the challenges ahead". According to McCarthy, in an article for The Huffington Post: "When the leader's office did venture into Defra territory, they didn't talk to the shadow team". McCarthy did not believe Corbyn was the right Labour leader or a potential prime minister. She supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.
In November 2017, McCarthy raised a complaint of inappropriate behaviour against Kelvin Hopkins, Labour MP for Luton North, which remained unresolved at the time Hopkins stepped down as an MP before the 2019 General Election.
McCarthy nominated Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election, and was appointed Shadow Green Transport Minister following his election in April 2020. She stepped down from the front bench owing to 'personal reasons' in Autumn 2021.
On 29 June 2022 McCarthy returned to the Labour frontbench as Shadow Minister for Climate Change following the resignation of Olivia Blake.
In May 2024, McCarthy introduced a ten minute rule bill requiring the Government to identify and support children with a parent in prison.
Personal life
McCarthy is a vegan, and has given talks on the subject. She was a presenter at the Vegan Society's 2005 annual awards. She divides her time between Bristol and London, and is a part-owner of a house in Luton. She is a vice-president of the League Against Cruel Sports, and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.
McCarthy is a fan of punk and post-punk music. She has written about industrial bands including Cabaret Voltaire and Test Dept for the website Louder Than War.
