Alison McGovern | |||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness | |||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 6 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jim McMahon | ||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Employment | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 July 2024 – 6 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jo Churchill | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Diana Johnson | ||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forBirkenhead | |||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mick Whitley | ||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 13,798 (32.0%) | ||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forWirral South | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ben Chapman | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished | ||||||||||||||||
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| Member ofSouthwark Council forBrunswick Park | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 May 2006 – 6 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1980-12-30)30 December 1980 (age 44) Clatterbridge,Merseyside, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University College London (BA) | ||||||||||||||||
Alison McGovern (born 30 December 1980) is a BritishLabour politician who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forBirkenhead since2024, and previouslyWirral South since2010. She served asMinister of State for Employment from 2024 to 2025 and currently serves asMinister of State for Local Government and Homelessness.[1][2]
Alison McGovern was born on 30 December 1980 inClatterbridge, Wirral.[3] She is the granddaughter offolksingerPeter McGovern,[3] and is the daughter of aBritish Railways telecoms engineer father and a mother who was anurse.
She was educated at Brookhurst Primary School, and thenWirral Grammar School for Girls, where she was the Head Girl from 1998 to 1999. She received aBachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy fromUniversity College London.[4]
After graduating from university, she worked as a researcher at theHouse of Commons, before handling communications for development projects atNetwork Rail,[4] then working for theArt Fund andCreativity, Culture and Education.[5]
McGovern was first elected as a councillor forBrunswick Park in theLondon Borough of Southwark in 2006, later becoming the Deputy Leader of the borough council's 29-member group of Labour councillors.[citation needed]
At the2010 general election, McGovern was elected to Parliament as MP forWirral South with 40.8% of the vote and a majority of 531.[6][7]
McGovern made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2010 in a debate on European Affairs.[8]
She became former Prime MinisterGordon Brown's parliamentary private secretary in July 2010.[9]
In November 2010, She was selected by thePLP to become a member of theInternational Development Select Committee.[10]
In March 2011, she visited India as part of an International Development Select Committee delegation.[11]
In the 2013 Labour reshuffle, she was added to the Shadow International Development team.[12] In 2014, she was moved to the shadow Children and Families portfolio.[13]
At the2015 general election, McGovern was re-elected as MP for Wirral South with an increased vote share of 48.2% and an increased majority of 4,599.[14]
In May 2015, McGovern was appointedShadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury in Labour'sTreasury team.[15] She departed the opposition front bench afterJeremy Corbyn waselected Labour leader in September 2015.[16]
In October 2015, McGovern was appointed as Chair ofProgress, a political organisation associated with the development ofNew Labour.[4]
In January 2016, McGovern resigned from Labour's policy review onchild poverty and combating inequality, as a protest againstProgress being described by shadow ChancellorJohn McDonnell as having "a hard right agenda". She commented that she had been "backed into a corner". A Labour Party spokesperson stated "She is resigning from something that doesn't exist", as the initiative had not been confirmed or launched yet.[17]
McGovern supportedOwen Smith in the unsuccessful attempt to replaceJeremy Corbyn in the2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[18]
McGovern served as chair of theAdvisory Committee on Works of Art from July 2016 until April 2020, when she rejoined the opposition front bench. In September 2016, she was elected co-chair of theall-party parliamentary group Friends of Syria.[19]
At the snap2017 general election, McGovern was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.2% and an increased majority of 8,323.[20]
She was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 51.2% and a decreased majority of 6,105.[21]
In the2020 Labour Party leadership election, McGovern supportedJess Phillips.[22]
Due to the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, McGovern's constituency of Wirral South was abolished.[23] She challengedMick Whitley inBirkenhead for the Labour selection and was successful on 16 June 2023.[24]
At the2024 general election, McGovern was elected to Parliament as MP for Birkenhead with 52% of the vote and a majority of 13,798.[25] She was appointed aMinister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) in the new Labour Government.[26] McGovern described Job Centres as the "most unloved public service" and vowed to reform them.[citation needed] In September 2025, she moved to theMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government with the portfolio of Local Government and Homelessness.[27][2]
McGovern is seen to be on the political right of the Labour Party and chairsProgressive Britain (formerly Progress), a group founded in 1996 to supportTony Blair.[22]
McGovern is a member of theFabian Society,[28] and a supporter ofLabour Friends of Israel.[29]
In 2008 McGovern married economist Ashwin Kumar, formerly a senior civil servant in theDepartment for Work and Pensions and Passenger Director atPassenger Focus.[3][30] The couple have a daughter, born in 2011.[31]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWirral South 2010–2024 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBirkenhead 2024–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
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| People | |