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Article by Adam Duckett – The Chemical Engineer – technical and news magazine published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers

CHRIS MCDONALD, an IChemE Fellow and new member of the UK parliament, has been appointed an assistant in the department for energy security and net zero. He said in his opening speech to lawmakers that he wants to unite the worlds of engineering and politics.

McDonald, who is the first fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering to become an MP, has been elected to represent Stockton North in North East England, which is a major hub for the process industries. He used his maiden speech to parliament on 17 July, to celebrate the region’s industrial heritage and the major manufacturing projects under development today.

“John Walker, a pioneer of chemical engineering, invented the friction match on Stockton’s famous high street in 1827. However, it was in the 20th century, with the dawn of the chemicals industry, that the neighbouring town of Billingham began to boom with the manufacture of ammonia for explosives and fertiliser,” McDonald said.

“This industrial progress continues, with Billingham and Stockton home to catalyst technologies and life sciences, with new investments planned in sustainable aviation fuel…and small modular reactors, carbon capture and hydrogen projects.”

Before entering parliament, McDonald worked in the region’s steel industry and was until last year the CEO of the Materials Processing Institute (MPI). During that time he worked with IChemE to re-launch a fellowship in memory of Ashok Kumar, a chemical engineer and Teesside MP who died in 2010.

He told fellow MPs: “Ashok was a well-loved colleague, and I took the opportunity a few years ago to re-establish the Ashok Kumar fellowship, which is a collaboration between the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and the Institution of Chemical Engineers to promote understanding between engineers and parliamentarians. I believe that I have the privilege of being the first and only fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering to sit here, and bringing together the two worlds of engineering and politics in the area of industrial strategy is something that I hope to do usefully in my time here.”

McDonald has been given an early opportunity to use his engineering background to assist government. He has been made a parliamentary private secretary – an unpaid role assisting Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero.

McDonald told TCE: “Places like Stockton North, which I represent, can he transformed by investment in industry and manufacturing, creating good well paid jobs and opportunities for young people. A desire to help deliver that has been a major motivator for me to enter politics. I was delighted and surprised to be called by the Prime Minister to support his government as parliamentary private secretary to Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy security and net zero. Abundant, zero carbon, competitive energy is essential to attract industrial investment and save the planet. I am pleased to have the opportunity to play a part in achieving that.”

Writing for TCE, McDonald has previously warned that too few engineering voices are being heard by policymakers, and that a long-term industrial strategy is needed to ensure strategic sites are developed in the national interest following the collapse of plans for a major battery manufacturing plant.

To read the full article, including Chris McDonald’s full speech, and previous articles written by McDonald for TCE, please visit the link below.

External URL: https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/uk-mp-and-chemical-engineer-chris-mcdonald-keen-to-unite-the-worlds-of-engineering-and-politics/