London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Daniel Joseph Carden is an MP for Liverpool Walton. He is serving as a member of the British Labour Party. Moreover, he served as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development from 2018 to 2020. If this isn’t enough he is a Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury from April to October 2020. In 2019, he was reelected. Getting a position as an MP has helped him bring justice for many people.
Early Life & Career
Daniel Joseph Carden is born on 28th October 1986. He was born and raised in Liverpool and his mother worked in the NHS for 40+ years. Whenever he talks about his childhood, he recalls standing on picket lines with his father, Mike Carden. It was during the Liverpool Dockers’ strike of the 1990s.
His Dad was later unfairly dismissed for refusing to cross a picket line. This is how he remained unemployed for seven years following the incident. Carden has expressed pride at still having the opportunity to stand alongside those fighting for justice today.
Daniel studied at St Edward’s College in West Derby (OE 1998–2005). He studied BSc International Relations at the London School of Economics, where he was also Chair of the University Labour Club. In the office of Unite the Union’s General Secretary, Len McCuskey, Carden worked before becoming an MP.
Parliamentary Career
In 2017, Carden defeated Liverpool City Mayor Joe Anderson, Theresa Griffin MEP, and others to become Labour’s candidate for Liverpool Walton. It was after the previous MP Steve Rotheram stood down to become the Mayor of Liverpool City Region. On 8 June, he was elected MP with 85.7% of the vote with a 32,551 majority. The strongest result in opposition elections in the seat’s history. An avowed socialist, Carden paid tribute to his predecessor Eric Heffer in a memorial lecture in January 2019. He is an active member of the Socialist Campaign Group.
In 2017, Daniel campaigned for a ban on LGBT conversion therapy after a church in Anfield was exposed. It was during a Liverpool Echo investigation for offering ritual starvation as a ‘cure’ for homosexuality. In July 2018, the UK Government pledged to bring forward proposals for a legislative ban. After Carillion collapsed in July 2018, Carden used two consecutive Prime Minister’s Questions to demand something.
He wanted to build the new Royal Liverpool Hospital in the public sector. According to reports on 25 September 2018, the government will terminate the private finance initiative deal, assuming full ownership of the hospital.
Runner-Up in General Elections
Ahead of the 2019 General Election, a journalist made claims about something interesting. He claimed that Carden had changed the words of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” to “Hey Jews”. It was on a coach trip with Labour MPs and journalists from Cheltenham races almost two years prior. Mark Tami, Labour MP, challenged these assertions though. Denying them, Carden noted that there must have been reasonable suspicion if anything anti-Semitic had occurred. However, it was only brought up now when a General Election was around the corner as a controversy.
In the 2019 general election, Carden won 34,538 votes. Which represented 84.7% of the vote and the largest majority in the country (74.83%). Carden spoke about his struggles with alcohol addiction and introduced an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill in November 2021. As a result of his Irish heritage, Carden delivered a speech to the global assembly of parliamentarians in Indonesia. In March 2022, it was calling on countries to accept more refugees and to reject “anti-migrant, racist rhetoric”.
Shadow International Development Secretary
As a result of Kate Osamor’s resignation following her son’s drug conviction, Carden was appointed Shadow Secretary of State. This position was for International Development on 1 December 2018. In the 2019 General Election, he proposed some of the most ambitious international development policies ever seen in Britain. These included transforming the CDC Group into a green development bank, and setting up a Public Services Unit.
This unit helped to provide areas such as water, healthcare, and education. There were also plans to prohibit all aid resources from being used for fossil fuels, and the backing of global trade unions. Not only that, but he suggested tripling funds for female rights groups. While he believed in implementing an ombudsman against abuse within aid sectors and reinforcing small-scale farmers with a Food Sovereignty Fund.
He argued for the UK to employ its clout to make the IMF and World Bank democracies. His ideas were contradicting their focus on market liberalization. They were also reducing financial expenditure and privatizing public services so the poorest countries can regulate themselves. Alongside shadow chancellor John McDonnell, he recommended a new law to create a compulsory register.
It will block any insolent confidential loans being given to foreign governments. During the COVID-19 crisis, Carden called upon debts of Global South countries to be written off. He helped allow resources to be invested in health services instead of debt repayments.
Shadow Financial Secretary To The Treasury
On 9 April 2020, Carden became Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury following a reshuffle by new party leader Keir Starmer. In October, he accused the Conservative government of corruption in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He believed in highlighting public contracts handed to Tory-linked firms without competition or transparency.
On 15 October, he resigned from Labour’s front bench to vote against the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. In his resignation letter, he wrote: “As a Liverpool MP and trade unionist, I share the deep concerns about this legislation from across the Labour movement, human rights organizations, and so many who have suffered the abuse of state power, from blacklisted workers to the Hillsborough families and survivors.”
Read More: What the new week in UK Parliament looks like with the new cabinet
Personal Life & Net Worth
Daniel Carden is gay and he has talked about it openly. He is a supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an advocate of football fan activism. You will notice he doesn’t shy away from supporting Liverpool and Everton supporters’ initiative Fans Supporting Foodbanks. If we talk about this net worth it is estimated to be at $5 million.