The official introduction to Chris McDonald

As trailed over the summer the MP for Stockton North Chris McDonald has now officially taken on the science, innovation, and investment brief jointly in the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBSIT). He was previously a minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Chris studied Chemical Engineering at Cambridge (he was sponsored by British Steel) before undertaking a MBA at the University of Warwick. He spent 20 years working in the steel industry. In 2008 he became a laboratory manager at Tata Steel before becoming Chief Executive of the Materials Processing Institute (a former division of Tata Steel).

Chris is a big metal head. He has been praised for turning round the Materials Processing Institute and saving 70 jobs in the process. The MPI also runs the annual “Millman Scholarship”, which provides funds for a deserving candidate from the Teesside area to study a materials, science, or engineering degree.

In Hansard there is very little on record covering universities or higher education but it is worth mentioning that in a 2025 debate on UK-China relations he said that

The hon. Member mentions Chinese theft of intellectual property. Does he agree that it is also concerning when we give it away, such as when UK universities set up campuses in China to train Chinese technicians to outcompete British industry?

McDonald has also offered a full throated defence of the benefits of nationalising British Steel.

Chris’s constituency of Stockton North is one of many in the North East that could be described as a “former industrial area”. The boundaries include most of central Stockton-on-Tees, alongside Billingham and Norton.

He has a particular interest in defence, and in the UK’s own industrial and technical capabilities – which feels a little like what we would have called “securonomics” back in 2024. His regular newsletter includes pieces about placing Stockton and Billingham at the heart of the industrial strategy, the moral urgency in defending Ukraine, and backing British ship building. His website paints a picture of an active local MP who is into industry, skills, and getting things built. He clearly knows a lot about steel and ships; it is unknown what he thinks of the less material elements of research.

Chris was born in Hartlepool which lies about 20 miles north of his constituency. He is a brass band cornet player (with various bands around the Durham area) and he has played at the Durham Miner’s Gala.

According to his parliamentary register of interests he is currently a professor in practice at the Durham University Business School. He is a trustee of Redhills CIO which looks after Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, and is a fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers; the Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, the Royal Geographic Society, and the Royal Academy of Engineering.