Shadow chancellor John McDonnell will appear on Question Time on Thursday night just days after his controversial appointment by new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
He will appear alongside environment secretary Liz Truss, former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley and presenter Sandi Toksvig – who recently formed a political party campaigning for women’s rights.
The show will be one of McDonnell’s first media appearances since he was handed the second most high profile job in the Labour party following Corbyn’s landslide leadership win on Saturday.
He gave his first interview to Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow on Monday.
Corbyn himself has shunned much of the press, refusing to appear on the Andrew Marr show on the Sunday following his victory in favour of attending a mental health rally.
McDonnell is likely to be forced to defend Corbyn’s decision not to appoint women to either the shadow chancellor, home secretary or foreign secretary briefs – traditionally seen as the top positions within cabinet. Corbyn has argued that the definition of top jobs on the front bench is outdated and pointed to the cabinet having a majority of women.
While McDonnell will expect a hard ride over the makeup of the shadow cabinet, he is likely to find support from Salmond on at least one issue. Both he and the SNP MP have campaigned against the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent.
