Minister of State for Science, Innovation and Investment, United Kingdom
Chris McDonald MP is the UK’s Minister of State for Science, Innovation and Investment, appointed in July 2026. The role sits jointly across the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the Department of Health and Social Care. His portfolio covers UK research and innovation, life sciences, tech investment, scale-ups, access to finance, engineering biology and quantum, as well as intellectual property. He previously served as Minister for Industry from September 2025 to July 2026. Elected MP for Stockton North in 2024, he spent 20 years in the steel industry with a focus on research, including as Chief Executive of the Materials Processing Institute. A chemical engineer, he is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering — the first Fellow elected as a constituency MP.
Photo credit: UK Government, used under the Open Government Licence