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
12 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: Clause 62 stand part Aye 344–181
12 Jan 2026 Finance (No.2) Bill Committee: Clause 10 stand part Aye 324–180
12 Jan 2026 Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: New Clause 12 No 167–350
7 Jan 2026 Opposition Day: Rural communities No 105–332
7 Jan 2026 Opposition Day: Jury trials No vote 182–290
17 Dec 2025 National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill: Second Reading Aye 312–165
16 Dec 2025 Finance (No. 2) Bill: Second Reading Aye 341–195
16 Dec 2025 Finance (No. 2) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading (Opposition) No 118–340
15 Dec 2025 Employment Rights Bill: Government motion to disagree with the Lords in their Amendment 120N to Commons Amendment 120G and their Amendments 120P to 120S to Commons Amendment 120H Aye 311–96
10 Dec 2025 Opposition day: Conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer No 90–297
10 Dec 2025 Government Amendment to Opposition day debate on seasonal work Aye 320–98
10 Dec 2025 Opposition day: Seasonal work No vote 98–325
9 Dec 2025 Railways Bill: Second Reading Aye 329–173
9 Dec 2025 Railways Bill: Opposition Reasoned Amendment No 170–332
9 Dec 2025 UK-EU customs union (duty to negotiate): Ten Minute Rule Motion No vote 100–100
8 Dec 2025 Employment Rights Bill: Government motion to insist on disagreement to LA62 but not to insist on Commons Amendment 62C and to propose Gov (a) in lieu of LA62 Aye 327–162
8 Dec 2025 Employment Rights Bill: Government motion not to insist on Commons Amendment 72C but to disagree with LA72D to LA72H and to propose Gov (a) and (b) in lieu of LA72D to LA72H Aye 326–162
8 Dec 2025 Employment Rights Bill: Government motion to insist on disagreement to Lords Amendment 48B but to propose Government amendment (a) and (b) in lieu of LA48B Aye 395–98
8 Dec 2025 Employment Rights Bill: Government motion to insist on disagreement to LA23 and LA106 to LA120, not to insist on Commons Amendment 120C, 120D and 120E but to propose Gov (a) to (f) in lieu of LA23 and LA106 to LA120 Aye 300–96
8 Dec 2025 Employment Rights Bill: Government motion to insist on disagreement to Lords Amendment 1B but to propose Government amendments (a) and (b) in lieu of Lords Amendment 1B Aye 327–96
3 Dec 2025 Pension Schemes Bill: Amendment 15 No 154–303
3 Dec 2025 Pension Schemes Bill: Amendment 16 No 143–304
3 Dec 2025 Pension Schemes Bill: New Clause 26 No 77–298
3 Dec 2025 Pension Schemes Bill: New Clause 3 No 87–299
2 Dec 2025 Budget Resolution No. 64: Rates of alcohol duty Aye 357–174

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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