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 forWhitehaven and Workington | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Majority | 13,286 (31.7%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 1987 (age 38) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Matthew Hood |
| Website | joshmacalister |
Joshua MacAlister[1]OBE (born March 1987) is a BritishLabour politician and former teacher who has beenMember of Parliament forWhitehaven and Workington since2024.[2][3] He has served asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families since 2025.[4]
MacAlister's father worked as a social worker.[5]
MacAlister attained an MA (Hons) in politics and social policy at theUniversity of Edinburgh. MacAlister served as President of theEdinburgh University Students’ Association.[6] In 2008, he unsuccessfully contested the Presidency of theNational Union of Students Scotland.
MacAlister also studied for, and received, a masters degree in leadership in education at theUniversity of Manchester.[7]
MacAlister trained as a teacher through theTeach First Programme and went on to teachcitizenship for three and a half years at schools inOldham.[8]
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.[7]
In 2019, theDepartment for Education provided Frontline with £45 million in funding.[9]
In January 2021 MacAlister stepped down from his role at Frontline in order to chair anindependent review of children's social care.[9] 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.[9]
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.[10]
MacAlister was made an Officer of theOrder of the British Empire in theKing's 2023New Year's Honours for services to vulnerable children.[11]
In June 2023, MacAlister was selected as theLabour Party's candidate for the newly created constituency ofWhitehaven and Workington.[12]
At the2024 general election, MacAlister was elected as the Member of Parliament forWhitehaven and Workington. MacAlister was elected with 53% of the vote and a majority of over 13,000 votes.[13]
In 2023 MacAlister joined his localmountain rescue team.[14] In July 2024, shortly after being elected as an MP, MacAlister was called out to a mountain rescue.[15]
In 2024,PinkNews listed him as an outLGBTQ+ parliamentarian.[16] He is married to educationalistMatthew Hood.[17]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forWhitehaven and Workington 2024–present | Incumbent |