The government-funded research institute run until recently by science minister Chris McDonald has entered insolvency proceedings. Doesn’t bode well…
The Materials Processing Institute, the Teesside research centre run by Labour minister Chris McDonald for a decade, has begun proceedings under the Insolvency Act. McDonald was chief executive of the institute from 2014 to 2024, having led its divestment from Tata Steel. He remained a strategic adviser right up until his election as Labour MP for Stockton North…
He was appointed a minister of state at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade on 21 July 2026 in Burnham’s reshuffle, and took on the science brief. The role carries oversight of UK Research and Innovation. With a hefty public purse at its disposal…
The MPI has been a repeat recipient of millions of public funding through UKRI – the body McDonald now oversees. Having been propped up for years by the taxpayer – ultimately fruitlessly…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”