Patrick Bosco McFadden (born 26 March 1965) is a British politician who has served asSecretary of State for Work and Pensions since 2025, having previously served asChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 2024 to 2025. A member of theLabour Party, he has been themember of Parliament (MP) forWolverhampton South East since2005. McFadden previously held various junior ministerial positions and shadow portfolios in his parliamentary career between 2005 and 2024.
McFadden attended theCabinet of Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Minister of State for Business, Innovation and Skills from 2009 to 2010, deputy toSecretary of State for Business, Innovation and SkillsPeter Mandelson (when Mandelson was Secretary from the Lords). He was Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs from 2007 to 2009, andParliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office from 2006 to 2007. Prior to his election to Parliament in 2005, he served asPolitical Secretary to the Prime Minister during thesecond Blair ministry.
In opposition, he served asShadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in thefirst Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman from May to October 2010. Having failed to be elected in the2010 Shadow Cabinet election, he was appointed ShadowMinister for Europe byEd Miliband in 2014 and re-appointed byJeremy Corbyn in 2015. McFadden was sacked from the front bench by Corbyn in 2016, and remained on the back benches until he was appointedShadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury in 2020 bySirKeir Starmer. He was promoted to the shadow cabinet in 2021 asShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and becameShadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 2023.
McFadden returned to the government following Labour's victory in the2024 general election, and was appointedChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster andMinister for Intergovernmental Relations by Starmer inhis ministry. In the2025 cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Patrick McFadden was born on 26 March 1965 inPaisley.[1] He is the son of James McFadden and Annie McFadden (née Gallagher), both nativeIrish speakers from just outsideFalcarragh, a village inCounty Donegal inUlster, the northernprovince in Ireland.[2][3] As a child, Pat McFadden regularly visited County Donegal.[2][4]
McFadden was educated at Holy Cross RC Primary School on Calder Street andHolyrood Secondary School inCrosshill, south-eastGlasgow. He later attended theUniversity of Edinburgh from 1983 to 1987, earning an MA degree in politics.
He was chair ofScottish Labour Students in 1986–87.
In 1988 he became a researcher forDonald Dewar, thenLabour's Scottish Affairs spokesman.
In 1993, he left this role to become a speechwriter and policy adviser to the Labour leaderJohn Smith.
Prior to becoming an MP, he worked in several advisory roles forTony Blair, both in opposition and government, and was thePrime Minister's Political Secretary from 2002.[4]
McFadden was elected as MP forWolverhampton South East at the2005 general election with 59.4% of the vote and a majority of 10,495.[5]
In the 2006 reshuffle he was appointed asParliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office. In the 2007 reshuffle he was promoted toMinister of State in the then newly createdDepartment for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with responsibility for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs.
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In October 2008, whenPeter Mandelson replacedJohn 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.
At the2010 general election, McFadden was re-elected as MP for Wolverhampton South East with a decreased vote share of 47.7% and a decreased majority of 6,593.[6]
After Labour's defeat in the general election and the resignation ofGordon Brown, McFadden was named in interim leaderHarriet Harman'sshadow cabinet asShadow Business Secretary.[7] WhenEd Miliband was elected as Labour leader in September 2010, McFadden announced his decision to stand inLabour's shadow cabinet election[8] but was not elected.
In the 2014 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, Miliband appointed McFadden as shadow minister for Europe.[9]
McFadden was again re-elected at the2015 general election, with an increased vote share of 53.3% and an increased majority of 10,767.[10]
In the2015 Labour Party leadership election, he nominatedLiz Kendall.[11]
McFadden retained his post as Shadow Europe Minister whenJeremy Corbyn became Labour leader but was dismissed along withMichael Dugher in January 2016.[12] He was dismissed for what the leadership described as repeated acts of disloyalty, including when, responding to aStop the War article on theParis bombings, he condemned "the view that sees terrorist acts as always being a response or a reaction to what we in the west do".John McDonnell said that McFadden's remarks, expressed in a question to the Prime Minister and interpreted as an attack on Corbyn, were an example of him undermining the leader's view. McFadden was defended byIan Austin andChris Leslie.[13]Jonathan Reynolds andStephen Doughty expressed support for McFadden in their resignation letters the following day.[14]
He supportedOwen Smith in the failed attempt to replaceJeremy Corbyn in the2016 Labour leadership election.[15]
At the snap2017 general election, McFadden was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 58.2% and a decreased majority of 8,514.[16]
McFadden was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 46.4% and a decreased majority of 1,235.[17]
On 9 April 2020, McFadden was appointed asShadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury by new party leaderKeir Starmer.[18] He was promoted toShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in theNovember 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle.[19]
In the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointedShadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster andLabour Party National Campaign Coordinator.[20]
In 2023, McFadden ranked twenty-fifth in the New Statesman's Left Power List due to his desire to enforce fiscal discipline.[21]
At the2024 general election, McFadden was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 50.3% and an increased majority of 9,188.[22] After the general election, McFadden was appointedChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by Keir Starmer to serve inhis ministry.[23] In the2025 British cabinet reshuffle, he was appointedSecretary of State for Work and Pensions, replacingLiz Kendall.[24]
McFadden is associated with the Labour centre-rightLabour First grouping[25] and is a vice-chair ofLabour Friends of Israel.[26][27] Peter Mandelson described his political ideology ascentre-left.[28]
McFadden voted in favour of theEuropean Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill to trigger Article 50 and exit the European Union.[29] He was opposed to ano-deal Brexit and supports a close trading relationship with the European Union.[30]
McFadden and his wife, Marianna, have a son and a daughter. He is a supporter ofCeltic F.C.[31]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWolverhampton South East 2005–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Employment Relations 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Business 2009–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Minister for Europe 2014–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2023–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Robert Hill | Political Secretary to the Prime Minister 2002–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2024–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2025– | Incumbent |
| Cabinet members | Gordon Brown
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|---|---|---|
| Also attended meetings | ||
| Attended while on agenda | ||
| Cabinet members | .svg) | |
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| Also attending meetings | ||
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