When
Terry Dicks then stood down, McDonnell became the MP for Hayes and Harlington at the
1997 general election, with 62 per cent of the vote and a majority of over 14,000. He made his
maiden speech in the House of Commons on 6 June 1997, where he notably launched a scathing attack against his predecessor, against parliamentary tradition.
Iraq War McDonnell voted against the
2003 Iraq War, stating in 2007: In October 2006, McDonnell was one of 12 Labour MPs to back
Plaid Cymru and the
Scottish National Party's call for a
parliamentary inquiry into the war in Iraq.
Irish Republican Army In May 2003, he made controversial comments about the
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), saying: Threatened with expulsion from the Labour Party, he went on to offer a rationale for his comments in an article written for
The Guardian in June 2003 ("Expulsion would be an odd reward for telling hard truths"), stating: According to a report in
The Times published in November 2015, McDonnell had made similar comments at a Labour Committee on Ireland meeting in 1985, before the start of the Northern Ireland peace process. The
Deptford Mercury asserted at the time that McDonnell had suggested there was a role for "the ballot, the bullet and the bomb" in achieving a United Ireland, and joked about "
kneecapping" the "gutless wimp" Labour councillors who had declined to join the meeting. In September 2015, McDonnell apologised on the BBC television programme
Question Time for any offence caused by his remarks on the IRA. He said that his remarks in 2003 had been an attempt to persuade republicans to support the peace process and to afford the IRA the opportunity to disarm without humiliation stating: "There was a real risk of the Republican movement splitting and some of them continuing the armed process." In his study at Hayes, McDonnell has a plaque presented to him by
Gerry Kelly dedicated to the "H-Block Martyrs 1981", referring to those who died during the
1981 Irish hunger strike. A spokesman for McDonnell said the plaque "merely commemorates the peaceful protest in prison, not the prior actions of those involved".
Groups and campaigns in Parliament McDonnell is a leading member of several all-party groups within Parliament, including groups representing individual trade unions, such as the
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the
Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and justice unions such as
NAPO. He is also a leading member of groups on a wide range of issues such as Britain's Irish community, the
Punjabi community,
endometriosis, and
Kenya. McDonnell is a member of the Labour Land Campaign, which advocates introducing a
land value tax. McDonnell chairs the
Labour Representation Committee (LRC), a left-wing group of Labour activists, local parties, trade unions and MPs that campaigns for the adoption of a raft of socialist policies by the Labour Government. The group was founded on Saturday, 3 July 2004, and currently has more than 800 members and 90 affiliates. He also chairs the Public Services Not Private Profit, an anti-privatisation campaign that brings together sixteen trade unions and several campaigning organisations, such as the
World Development Movement, Defend Council Housing and the
National Pensioners Convention. An
early day motion in support of the campaign attracted more than ninety MPs. The campaign held a mass rally and lobby of Parliament on 27 June 2006, which was attended by more than 2,000 trade unionists.
Economic policy In 2006, McDonnell said that "
Marx,
Lenin and
Trotsky" were his "most significant" intellectual influences. Footage emerged of McDonnell in 2013 talking about the
2008 financial crisis and stating, "I've been waiting for this for a generation! We've got to demand systemic change. Look, I'm straight, I'm honest with people: I'm a
Marxist." He was accused of celebrating the
2008 financial crisis; McDonnell denied the allegation and claimed he was joking. In 2018, McDonnell attended the Marx 200 conference, where he said, "Marxism is about the freedom of spirit, the development of life chances, the enhancement of democracy." In 2019, McDonnell stated during an interview that Marx's
Kapital is "one of the important analyses of the modern capitalist system".
Public services McDonnell has consistently opposed the privatisation of public services and chaired the Public Services not Private Profit Campaign launched in 2006 and supported by sixteen trade unions linking up with students, pensioners, health campaigners and the
World Development Movement. McDonnell is "not supportive of PFI schemes", declaring that he has "opposed every PFI scheme that was proposed". In 2006, during the parliamentary debate on the
Budget Resolutions, McDonnell warned against
public-private finance initiatives (PFIs), calling for an inquiry:There are numerous examples. I refer hon. Members to the work of Alison Pollock and to the publications by
Unison in recent months, which contain example after example in the public services, health and education where PFI has been used to exploit the public purse, has failed to deliver and has delivered large bonuses and profits to individual company directors. That is why I regret that the Chancellor is going along that line. I would welcome a Government inquiry into PFI, which would probably echo the work done by the
Public Accounts Committee on individual PFI schemes, which has demonstrated their lack of deliverability and cost effectiveness.
Tax transparency Throughout his time in Parliament, McDonnell has championed the cause of tax justice, hosting the launch of the
Tax Justice Network in 2003. In 2002, McDonnell worked with William Campbell-Taylor and Maurice Glasman, who challenged a bill concerned with the City of London Corporation in relation to alleged tax avoidance:Apart from a couple of brave, independent-minded Labour MPs, notably John McDonnell, nobody supported Glasman and Campbell-Taylor to challenge the bill. Such is the fear that the corporation inspires in parliament.
Bank regulations During the 2011 Budget Resolutions, McDonnell highlighted his long-term consistent work calling for better regulation of the banking and finance sector:We seem to forget that the cause of that crisis was the cause of this crisis—speculation by the banks and other speculators and, yes, a Government who failed to regulate. I have to say, however, that when a number of Members called for bank regulation in this House, there was an element of quietude on all sides. I remember fighting for four years, in almost a solitary capacity, to secure the passage of the City of London (Ward Elections) Bill at a time when we were pressing for regulation.
Anti-austerity In February 2013, McDonnell was among those who supported the
People's Assembly Against Austerity in a letter published by
The Guardian.
Heathrow Airport expansion McDonnell has been a vocal opponent of plans to
expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway—the proposed site lies within his constituency. During a debate on the expansion of the airport on 15 January 2009, he was
suspended for five days by Deputy Speaker
Alan Haselhurst after disrupting Commons proceedings. McDonnell picked up the
ceremonial mace and placed it down on an empty bench in the Commons while shouting that the lack of a vote on the third runway was "a disgrace to the democracy of this country."
Armed police and MI5 In 2015, McDonnell's name appeared on a letter calling for armed police and
MI5 to be disbanded. He claimed that he had not signed the letter, which was produced by the Socialist Campaign for a Labour Victory (SCLV), but he was photographed holding a copy of the letter, although he later said that he did not know that the demand was on the letter.
2007 Labour leadership campaign On 14 July 2006, McDonnell announced his intention to stand for leadership of the Labour Party when
Tony Blair announced the date of his resignation. He called for "a challenge to the present political consensus", and, "a real Labour government based upon the policies that our supporters expect from us". McDonnell said he would like to see a return to the
Labour Party's more traditional areas. Initially, McDonnell and
Michael Meacher were the two candidates representing the left wing of the party. McDonnell's campaign concentrated on grassroots efforts, which earned him an endorsement from the
Trades Union Congress. In a
YouGov opinion poll of more than 1,100 Labour Party members asking their preferred choice in the leadership contest, McDonnell received 9% support, and was ranked second to
Chancellor Gordon Brown, who led with 80% of the vote. Declared supporters included
Diane Abbott,
Tony Benn, and
Ann Cryer. In total, eleven Labour MPs declared their support on McDonnell's campaign website. Labour Party rules require candidates to be nominated by 12.5% of Labour MPs (45 out of a total of 355 in 2007). Gordon Brown received 313 (88.2%) nominations, while McDonnell failed to collect the 45 nominations required to proceed to the Electoral College. As the only nominated candidate, Gordon Brown was declared leader by the NEC.
2010 Labour leadership campaign On 18 May 2010, news broke that McDonnell wanted to stand in the Labour Party leadership election, to be held following the resignation of Gordon Brown, and would announce it the following day at the
Public and Commercial Services Union conference in Brighton. McDonnell noted that it would be "difficult" to get the 33 nominations needed from the
Parliamentary Labour Party required to stand in the election. Conservative MP
Conor Burns told the BBC that "[it was] very distasteful" and "a very silly remark". McDonnell told the BBC: "I'm sorry if I have caused offence to anyone. It was a joke and in that audience it was taken as a joke ... it was taken out of context, I can see if people are upset about that and if I have caused offence to anyone of course I apologise." By 9 June 2010, the deadline for nominations, he had secured only 16 nominations and withdrew from the contest. ==Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (2015–2020)==