Conor McGinn

Conor McGinn was born on 31 July 1984 in Camlough, County Armagh, Northern Ireland,^[2] and brought up in the nearby village of Bessbrook. The village was highly militarised during The Troubles.^[3] His mother was an NHS clerical officer, and his father was a Sinn Féin councillor.^[3][4]

McGinn went to St Paul's High School, Bessbrook.^[5] Before going to university, he worked for the African National Congress in South Africa on a fellowship for two months.^[4] He studied at Goldsmiths, University of London, but did not initially complete his degree, remaining in London working for a mental health charity for Irish immigrants, Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy,^[5] and later for the Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas.^[3][6] He later completed his history, politics and Irish studies degree part-time at London Metropolitan University.^[6][4]

McGinn was chair of the Young Fabians from 2006 to 2007, and was also vice-chair of Young Labour.^[6] He was a candidate for Islington London Borough Council in 2006 and 2010 without success.^[6][7] He has been on the executive of the Fabian Society and until 2012 was chair of the Labour Party Irish Society.^[6] In 2011 he represented the socialist societies on the Labour Party National Executive Committee.^[6][8]

He worked as a public affairs and government relations consultant,^[6][8] before becoming an advisor to shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Vernon Coaker in 2011, and continued to work for Coaker when he became shadow defence secretary.^[8][9]

McGinn was elected to Parliament as MP for St Helens North with 57% of the vote and a majority of 17,291.^[10][11]

McGinn supported Andy Burnham's bid for the leadership of the Labour Party in 2015.^[12][13][14] He nominated Owen Smith in the 2016 leadership election.^[15]

In July 2016, he was involved in a Twitter spat with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in which McGinn claimed that Corbyn "said that he intended to ring my father", a former Sinn Féin councillor.^[16][17] Corbyn's spokesman said the claim was "untrue".^[18]

Following the October 2016 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, and the replacement of Dame Rosie Winterton as Chief Whip, McGinn resigned as a whip.^[19]

At the snap 2017 general election, McGinn was re-elected as MP for St Helens North with an increased vote share of 63.7% and an increased majority of 18,406.^[20]

In July 2019, McGinn submitted and moved the successful House of Commons amendment to change the law to extend equal marriage for LGBT people to Northern Ireland.^[21]

At the 2019 general election, McGinn was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 52.3% and a decreased majority of 12,209.^[22]

In February 2020, McGinn supported the campaign for Helen's Law, working with Marie McCourt to successfully introduce a Private Members Bill and getting the Government to commit to introducing tougher penalties for murderers who refuse to reveal the location of their victims' remains.^[23][24]

On 9 April 2020, McGinn was appointed as Shadow Minister for Security.^[25] In June 2021, he was appointed as Labour's deputy national campaign coordinator.^[26] In December 2021, he was appointed Shadow Minister without Portfolio.^[27][28]

McGinn was suspended by the Labour Party in December 2022, following an unspecified complaint. In October 2023, he left the party in order to withdraw from the process; he stated that he had done nothing wrong, that there had been "no finding of any wrongdoing", and that the process was "flawed, protracted and prejudicial".^[29][30][1] On 5 May 2023, McGinn announced he would be standing down at the 2024 general election.^[31]

In January 2026 he was charged with sexual assault,^[32] and in February 2026 he plead not guilty for an alleged offence which happened in July 2022. The full trial should take place late 2026.^[33]

McGinn has lived in Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows. He currently resides in Lambeth, London.^[32] He married Kate Groucutt around 2009 and has a son and a daughter.^[5][34] McGinn holds both Irish and British citizenship.^[35]