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Official portrait of The Lord Macdonald of River Glaven KC

The Lord Macdonald of River Glaven KC

Crossbench Member of the House of Lords M
Lord Macdonald of River Glaven's full title is The Lord Macdonald of River Glaven KC. His name is Kenneth Donald John Macdonald, and he is a current member of the House of Lords.

Allowance claims · 2026

Data not yet released for 2026 — the Lords Finance Office publishes monthly CSVs ~6-8 weeks after month-end.

Political donations made

Total donated (all years on record) £12,600
7 donations across 1 distinct recipient
Matched donor name: Lord Ken Macdonald of River Glaven
Date Recipient Type EC Ref Amount
2017-09-30 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0337747 £1,800
2016-09-30 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0252175 £1,800
2015-09-30 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0210936 £1,800
2013-09-30 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0093781 £1,800
2012-09-30 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0083762 £1,800
2011-12-31 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0076931 £1,600
2011-06-30 Liberal Democrats · Parliamentary Party In The Lords Cash C0039979 £2,000
Showing the 7 most recent donations on record. Source: Electoral Commission donations register (search.electoralcommission.org.uk). Match confidence: place-suffix.

Lords votes · 2026

162 divisions 2 Content(1.2%) 5 Not-Content(3.1%) 155 didn't vote(95.7%)
2026-03-24
Not-Content
80166 Not-Content
2026-03-24
Content
285156 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
70166 Not-Content
2026-03-18
Content
18058 Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
119191 Not-Content
2026-03-18
Not-Content
148185 Not-Content
2026-01-06
Not-Content
180219 Not-Content
Source: lordsvotes-api.parliament.uk. "Result" shows the headline Content vs Not-Content tally (including tellers). The Lords doesn't publish a "didn't vote" attendance roll like the Commons, so the figure above conflates absence with abstention.

Recent Hansard contributions · latest 25

2026-02-05 Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I want to strongly support these amendments, and I shall be relatively brief. The noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy of The Shaws, was kind enough to inform the Committee that in her presence I described the present situation as illogical. In fact, I
2025-12-08 Official Secrets Act and Espionage
My Lords, does the Minister recognise that the statements of the Deputy National Security Adviser in the recent Chinese espionage case provided ample and sufficient grounds for the prosecution of that case?
2025-09-12 Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, when this question was last before your Lordships, I opposed any alteration to the present law, but I have changed my mind because I have come to believe that our present arrangements are discriminatory and hypocritical. These arrangements bene
2025-06-02 Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
My Lords, I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Harper, on an excellent maiden speech and welcome him warmly. I broadly welcome the Bill, and I believe that many of the enforcement measures it contains will assist in the fight against organised imm
2025-06-02 Independent Sentencing Review
My Lords, I very strongly agree with what the Minister has just said, and I declare an interest in that a close relative of mine works in the Probation Service. It is demoralised, underfunded and depressed, and that will have to change urgently, although
2024-11-26 Rule of Law
My Lords, I join others in welcoming the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Smith of Cluny, and congratulate her on both initiating this important debate and her wonderful maiden speech. I also welcome and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Laing of Eld
2024-07-26 Community Sentences (Justice and Home Affairs Committee Report)
I will come to a conclusion now. I was simply going to say that I think that is absolutely right. I knew the new Prime Minister for 25 years at the Bar, first as a practitioner and thereafter when he succeeded me as Director of Public Prosecutions. I
2024-07-26 Community Sentences (Justice and Home Affairs Committee Report)
My Lords, I hope your Lordships will bear with me as I speak during the gap. I am aware that such contributions are meant to be kept short, so I will speak relatively briefly. I do not need to mention my interest, because it has already been referred to
2024-07-24 King’s Speech
My Lords, I too warmly welcome the noble Lord, Lord Timpson, and I regard his appointment as Prisons Minister as one of the best decisions the new Prime Minister has made since he took office. I also welcome the noble Lord, Lord Hanson, who will be windi
2024-01-17 Sir Edward Heath: Operation Conifer
My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, on securing this important debate and on his perseverance in this important matter. It is worth recalling the context for Operation Conifer. It arose in the depths, and I use that term advisedl
2023-11-08 King’s Speech
My Lords, I first got to know Lord Judge well when I was a pretty raw and inexperienced DPP and he became president of the Queen’s Bench Division and head of criminal justice in the Court of Appeal. He was kind, wise and, where necessary, sympathetically
2023-06-14 Illegal Migration Bill
Has it occurred to the noble Lord that there may not even be a secret plan?
2023-06-12 Illegal Migration Bill
Would the Minister accept that, given the extreme sensitivity of persuading victims in these categories of offences to co-operate in the first place, and the almost full-time pastoral care that they have to be given in the approach to a trial, doing all
2023-06-12 Illegal Migration Bill
My Lords, allow me to add a few words about law enforcement. It seems to me that the problems the Bill intends to confront would best be solved by international co-operation, including international rules of law, but also by firm domestic law enforcement
2023-05-11 Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill
My Lords, I want to briefly offer some words of support for that amendment. In their paper, Professor Ekins and Sir Stephen Laws, the former First Parliamentary Counsel, make a compelling argument that the United Kingdom Supreme Court judgment was wrong.
2023-04-27 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency
Before the Minister moves to another area, the figure I gave that SMEs account for 99.9% of all companies and business organisations in the UK comes from government statistics—namely, business population estimates for 2022.
2023-04-27 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency
My Lords, against the extraordinarily high rate of fraud offending, we have to set the fact that fraud is the most under-prosecuted offence within this jurisdiction. There is no doubt about that, and no doubt that people in the country understand it, are
2023-03-27 Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill
My Lords, I apologise for not being able to be present at Second Reading. In support of the noble Lords, Lord Faulks and Lord Vaux, I simply say that I really could not count the number of criminal cases in which I have been involved where it is precisel
2023-01-11 National Security Bill
Before the noble Lord sits down, I just wonder whether he considers that there may be a difference between intentional killing, on the one hand, which may or may not be wrong, depending on the circumstances and context, and torture and sexual violation o
2022-12-19 National Security Bill
Realistic.
2022-12-19 National Security Bill
My Lords, on the minor tiff between the noble Lords, Lord Pannick and Lord Carlile, both of whom I have great respect for, I am inclined to side with the noble Lord, Lord Carlile. I have no doubt at all that economic well-being is an aspect of national s
2022-12-07 Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill
My Lords, I do not oppose this amendment at all. I can see why it might be possible for material relating to this issue to be included in codes of practice. However, it is worth observing that a lot of the behaviour described by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt
2022-12-07 Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill
My Lords, the noble Lord may be being rather kind to the Prussian police. I have no doubt that in the early 19th century the Prussian police were extremely interested in what was said in colleges and on street corners.
2022-11-22 Public Order Bill
Does the noble Baroness agree with me that there is clear evidence of a concerted effort by well-funded, extremist United States—sometimes religious—groups to replicate in this country the situation that exists outside abortion clinics in the United Stat
2022-11-22 Public Order Bill
Does the noble Lord understand that prosecutors, in authorising and not authorising charges, have discretion in whether to prosecute a case? No prosecutor I have met would ever prosecute a case on the facts the noble Lord has just set out.
Source: hansard.parliament.uk via hansard-api. Snippets shown verbatim from the search API; click any debate title for the full record.

Register of Interests · 6 entries on file

Declarations under the Lords Code of Conduct. Free text — no monetary values, no hours worked. A declaration that an interest exists, not a claim about its size.

Category 1: Remunerated employment etc.

  • Chair, Independent Review of Public Order and Hate Crime Legislation
    registered 2025-12-08
  • Senior Adviser (legal and strategic advice), Adam Management Holdings Ltd (facilities management, tech and commodities services) (interest ceased 17 November 2025)
    registered 2023-07-10 · amended 2025-11-17
  • Chair of Inquiry Commission into 2020 arrest, detention and subsequent treatment of Zhanbolat Mamay (leader of Democratic Party of Kazakhstan) in Republic of Kazakhstan
    registered 2022-09-22 · amended 2025-04-05
  • Deputy High Court Judge
    registered 2010-07-19 · amended 2025-04-05
  • Income from articles written for national press, particularly Times and Guardian
    registered 2010-07-19 · amended 2025-04-05
  • Practising barrister (King's Counsel)
    registered 2010-07-15 · amended 2025-04-05
Source: UK Parliament Members API (Lords register). Refreshed weekly. Read the full Lords Code of Conduct for what each category covers and the disclosure thresholds.

Party history

2019-03-18present
Crossbench current
2018-03-222019-03-17
Non-affiliated
2010-07-122018-03-21
Liberal Democrat

Government posts

None recorded.

Opposition posts

None recorded.

Committee memberships

2012-05-162013-06-12
Constitution Committee

Contact

Parliamentary office
contactholmember@parliament.uk
020 7219 5353 · House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW

APPGs (2026) · 0 active officership(s) · 1 historic

Not currently an officer of any active APPG. Was officer of 1 group(s) historically — those rotated off in later snapshots.

Written parliamentary questions · 2026

No written questions tabled in 2026.

Bills sponsored & supported · 2026

0 bills 0 as lead sponsor 0 as supporter
No bills sponsored or supported in 2026.
Source: UK Parliament Bills API. "Lead" sponsor is the primary mover (sortOrder = 1); "Supporter" rows are members of either House who backed the bill at introduction. Year is the bill's first-reading date.

Historic bills (all-time)

0 bills 0 as lead sponsor 0 as supporter
No bills sponsored or supported on record.
Same source as the year-scoped panel above, but unconstrained by year. The "Sponsored" tag = lead sponsor; "Supported" = backed at introduction. Sorted newest first.
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