Josh MacAlister
British politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Josh MacAlister | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families | |
| Assumed office 7 September 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Janet Daby |
| Member of Parliament for Whitehaven and Workington | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Majority | 13,286 (31.7%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 1987 (age 39) |
| Party | Labour |
| Spouse | Matthew Hood |
| Website | joshmacalister |
Early life and education
MacAlister's father worked as a social worker.[5] He attended Oulder Hill High School in Rochdale [6]
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.[7] 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.[8]
Professional life
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.[9]
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.[8]
In 2019, the Department for Education provided Frontline with £45 million in funding.[10]
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.[10] 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.[10]
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.[11]
Awards
MacAlister was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to vulnerable children.[12][13]
Member of Parliament
In June 2023, MacAlister was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the newly created constituency of Whitehaven and Workington.[14]
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.[15]
Personal life
In 2023 MacAlister joined his local mountain rescue team.[16] In July 2024, shortly after being elected as an MP, MacAlister was called out to a mountain rescue.[17]
In 2024, PinkNews listed him as an out LGBTQ+ parliamentarian.[18] He is married to educationalist Matthew Hood.[19]
