James McLaughlin MP

[Kayla Gray]

Name: James McLaughlin
Avatar: Steven Gerrard
Age: 38 (12 October 1980)
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: White Irish
Marital Status: Partnered but unmarried

Party: Labour
Primary Tribe: Socialist Campaign Group
Secondary Tribes: Momentum
Brexit Position: Leave (Soft)
Constituency: Wirral South
Year Elected: 2017

Education: Attended a Comprehensive School, achieved a Masters Degree in 2003 in Politics at Liverpool University
Career: Teacher (2004-10), Journalist for the Morning Star (2010-11), Union Official for the Nation Union of Teachers (2011-16), Advisor to the Leader of the Opposition (2016-17)
Political Career: Member of Parliament for Wirral South (2017-), Shadow Minister for Schools (2018-)

Biography:
James McLaughlin was born on October 12th 1980 in Liverpool to an Irish father and mother from London. James’ father, Ryan McLaughlin, was an immigrant born into poverty, who moved from Dublin to Liverpool in 1974, aged 26. James’ mother, Susan McLaughlin (née Williams) was from a lower-middle class family but migrated to the north of England in 1967 at age 21. Ryan worked as a fireman from 1976-1982 before becoming an official for the Fire Brigades Union where he was prominent as he gained influence and a growing reputation in the union before his death from a heart attack in 1991. Susan worked as a chef in a small local restaurant before retiring in 2011. Susan passed away in February 2019.

James’ family moved over to the Wirral in 1983 and attended a local comprehensive before going to Liverpool University where, after 5 years of study, he achieved his master’s degree in Politics. Following this, James had multiple short term jobs before becoming a teacher, at the school he previously attended in his teens, in 2004 where he worked for 6 years before leaving to become a journalist for Morning Star where he worked for 14 months. Following his stint in journalism, James became a Union Official for the National Union of Teachers, working at a low to mid level over his 5 years at the Union.

Following this, James stepped into party politics to become an advisor to Jeremy Corbyn shortly before the beginning of the 2016 Labour Leadership Election. James served in this role until the 2017 General Election where he resigned from the role following his election to parliament in the Wirral South constituency. James has been a vocal supporter of the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn since then and was appointed to the role of Shadow Minister for Schools in 2018.

James has been allied with the Socialist Campaign Group since his election to parliament as well as being a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. James had previously spoken in favour of a United Ireland during his time with the Morning Star as well as advocating for the abolition of the monarchy, when asked about his previous comments James said “These are beliefs that I still hold, however these are not things that I see as priorities for any incoming Labour government for the time being.”

James met his partner, Ahava Miriam, in 2017 while campaigning in the General Election. Ahava works as a History Teacher at a Sixth Form College on the Wirral. She was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel in 1986 before moving to the United Kingdom in 1994. Ahava is thought to share many of James’ political beliefs, including support for a two state solution for Israel and Palestine. The couple have no children.