Official portrait of Josh MacAlister

Josh MacAlister

Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, since 4 July 2024

Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Josh MacAlister is the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024. He currently holds the Government post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education).

Scorecard

82.3% Attendance Turns up more often than most MPs who vote
473 Votes cast out of 575 divisions
102 No vote recorded absent, abstaining, paired or unable to attend
0 Against their own party divisions where they voted the other way to most Labour MPs
7 Interests declared 3 at £5,000 or more
96 Debates spoken in 41 written questions tabled

Ranked 138 of 638 MPs for attendance. The median of MPs who vote is 72.3%. Ministers and front-benchers vote less often than backbenchers for reasons of office rather than absenteeism, and Parliament does not publish reasons for any absence — the ranking is a starting point for a question, not an answer to one.

Voting record

575 divisions since they took their seat, newest first.

DateQuestionTheir voteResult
4 Feb 2026 Draft Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) Order 2026 deferred division No vote 392–116
3 Feb 2026 Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill: Second Reading Aye 458–104
28 Jan 2026 Opposition Day: Youth unemployment No 91–287
28 Jan 2026 Opposition Day: British Indian Ocean Territory No vote 103–284
28 Jan 2026 Draft Medical Devices (Fees Amendment) Regulations 2026 deferred division Aye 294–108
27 Jan 2026 Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill: Amendment 1 No 88–310
27 Jan 2026 Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill: Amendment 2 No 61–311
27 Jan 2026 Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill: Amendment 9 No 91–378
21 Jan 2026 Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order 2025 No vote 373–106
21 Jan 2026 National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill: Third Reading Aye 316–194
21 Jan 2026 National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill Committee: New Clause 5 No 195–317
21 Jan 2026 National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill Committee: Amendment 5 No 191–326
20 Jan 2026 Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 6 Aye 347–184
20 Jan 2026 Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 5 Aye 347–185
20 Jan 2026 Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 1 Aye 344–182
20 Jan 2026 Sentencing Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 7 Aye 319–127
14 Jan 2026 Draft Public Order Act 2023 (Interference With Use or Operation of Key National Infrastructure) Regulations 2025 deferred division No vote 301–110
13 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 26 No 172–334
13 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 9 No 181–335
13 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: Clause 86 stand part Aye 344–173
13 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 25 No 187–351
13 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 24 No 184–331
13 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: Clause 63 Stand part Aye 348–167
12 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 7 No 188–341
12 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: Amendment 3 No 185–344

Declared financial interests

Quoted in full from the Register of Members' Financial Interests. Entries where the largest figure is £5,000 or more are marked. A declaration is not a wrongdoing — the register exists precisely so that these things are visible.

2. (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation

£20,000

Name of donor: Lord (David) Sainsbury
Address of donor: private
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: £20,000
Donor status: individual
(Registered 21 March 2026)

On the register since 24 Mar 2026

£20,000

Name of donor: Lord (David) Sainsbury
Address of donor: private
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: £20,000
Donor status: individual
(Registered 15 July 2025)

On the register since 5 Aug 2025

2. (b) Any other support not included in Category 2(a)

£10,000

Name of donor: Cressida Pollock and Danny Luhde-Thompson
Address of donor: private
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: £10,000
Date received: 11 July 2025
Date accepted: 11 July 2025
Donor status: individual
(Registered 15 July 2025)

On the register since 5 Aug 2025

3. Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources

Name of donor: Lloyds Banking Group
Address of donor: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: Ticket to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show including gala dinner and reception in aid of the Woodland Trust and access to the show, value £919.50
Date received: 18 May 2026
Date accepted: 18 May 2026
Donor status: company, registration 00002065
(Registered 25 June 2026)

On the register since 30 Jun 2026

Name of donor: London Marathon Events Ltd
Address of donor: 190 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YB
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: Hospitality at the start and finish of the London Marathon 2026, value £350
Date received: 26 April 2026
Date accepted: 26 April 2026
Donor status: company, registration 01528489
(Registered 29 April 2026)

On the register since 19 May 2026

8. Miscellaneous

Volunteer Member of the Council of Management of The Lionel Cooke Memorial Fund Ltd (a funding body supporting Labour causes). This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 1 January 2025
Date interest ended: 30 September 2025
(Registered 7 January 2025; updated 21 March 2026)

On the register since 25 Mar 2026

Mountain Rescue Team Member. This is an unpaid role.
Date interest arose: 5 July 2024
(Registered 23 July 2024)

On the register since 29 Jul 2025

The same register on parliament.uk →

Debates

96 debates contributed to in total. The ten most recent:


Sources: Commons Votes API, Members API and the Register of Members' Financial Interests, all published by Parliament under the Open Parliament Licence. This member's register and debate record were last refreshed 3 Aug 2026. How every figure is worked out →

Machine-readable: JSON for this MP.

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