Preceded by Gareth Thomas Succeeded by John Denham Name Pat McFadden Education University of Edinburgh | Preceded by The Lord Mandelson Prime Minister Gordon Brown Role Politician Party Labour Party | |
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Leader Ed Miliband
Harriet Harman (Acting)
Jeremy Corbyn Leader Harriet Harman (Acting) Similar People Emma Reynolds, Rob Marris, John Spellar, Kate Hoey, Kerry McCarthy | ||
Patrick Bosco McFadden (born 26 March 1965 in Paisley) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 2005. He was briefly Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, but failed to be elected to the Shadow Cabinet shortly after Ed Miliband became Labour Leader.
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Early life and career
McFadden is the son of Annie and James McFadden, both native Irish language speakers from the Falcarragh area of northern County Donegal in Ireland. He went to Holy Cross RC Primary School on Calder Street and Holyrood Secondary School in Crosshill, south-east Glasgow. McFadden studied Politics at the University of Edinburgh, gaining an MA in 1988, and was chair of Scottish Labour Students in 1986-87 before becoming a researcher in 1988 for Donald Dewar, then Labour's Scottish Affairs spokesman. In 1993 he left this role to become a speechwriter and policy adviser to the Labour leader John Smith.
Prior to becoming an MP he worked in several advisory roles for Tony Blair, both in opposition and government, and was the Prime Minister's Political Secretary from 2002.
Parliamentary career
McFadden was elected at the 2005 general election, after Dennis Turner retired. In the 2006 reshuffle he was appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Exclusion at the Cabinet Office. In the 2007 reshuffle he was promoted to Minister of State in the then newly created Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with responsibility for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs. In October 2008, when Lord Mandelson replaced John Hutton as Business Secretary, McFadden took on duties as his deputy in order to represent the department in the House of Commons as Mandelson is a peer and can only address the Lords. McFadden was contemporaneously appointed to the Privy Council.
Following Labour's defeat in the 2010 election and the resignation of Gordon Brown, McFadden was named in interim leader Harriet Harman's shadow cabinet as Shadow Business Secretary. After Ed Miliband's election as Labour leader in September 2010, McFadden announced his decision to stand in Labour's shadow cabinet election. He was not elected.
Personal life
McFadden and his wife, Marianna, have a son and a daughter. He is a supporter of Celtic Football Club. As a child he regularly visited his parents' home in Donegal, where his parents came from.