Joshua MacAlister[1] OBE is a British Labour politician who has been Member of Parliament for Whitehaven and Workington since 2024.[2][3]
MacAlister's father worked as a social worker.[4]
MacAlister studied for, and received, an MA (Hons) in politics and social policy at the University of Edinburgh. MacAlister served as President of the Edinburgh University Students’ Association.[5] 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.[6]
MacAlister trained as a teacher through the Teach First Programme and went on to work as a teacher in Oldham.
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 modeled on Teach First, in 2013.[4] The first cohort began their training the following year.[6]
In 2019, the Department for Education provided Frontline with £45 million in funding.[7]
In January 2021 MacAlister stepped down from his role at Frontline in order to chair an independent review of children's social care.[7] 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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
In June 2023, MacAlister was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the newly created constituency of Whitehaven and Workington.[10]
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.[11]
In 2023 MacAlister joined his local mountain rescue team.[12] In July 2024, shortly after being elected as an MP, MacAlister was called out to a mountain rescue.[13]
In 2024, PinkNews listed him as an out LGBTQ+ parliamentarian.[14] He is married to educationalist Matthew Hood.[15]
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