Chris McDonald is Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Stockton North and a consultant in the steel industry. Until recently he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Materials Processing Institute, the UKs national centre for metals innovation. The Institute was set up by Chris in 2014 and now employs 80 people. Chris has focussed the Institute on developing technologies to tackle climate change and promote digital adoption for the Foundation Industries.
Chris’s background is in the steel industry and manufacturing technology, where he has worked internationally. A graduate of Cambridge University, Chris is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Institution of Chemical Engineers and a past Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Until recently he was Chair of the UK Metals Council.
In both his political and industrial roles, Chris is a prominent voice advocating UK manufacturing in the media. He commentates on the steel industry, innovation and industrial strategy more broadly. He provides expert consultancy and policy support in these areas and has served as policy lead for Innovation & Manufacturing at the Federation of Small Businesses.
Chris combines is a Trustee of the Redhills Charity in Durham, a charity founded and chaired during COVID that has raised £10m to rescue the historic home of the Durham Miners’ Association and work with disadvantaged young people across the North East. Chris has established two scholarship schemes to support young people from Teesside to study at university and to close the gap between engineers and policy makers. Both schemes are privately funded by industry and charitable sponsors.
He was previously a Director of the Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust and has a strong interest in the social impact of business including issues such as economic inequality, diversity & inclusion and sustainability, which he covers on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/chrismcdonald