Denis MacShane (born Josef Denis Matyjaszek; 21 May 1948) is a British former politician, author and commentator who served as Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005. He joined the Labour Party in 1970 and has held most party offices. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham from 1994 to his resignation in 2012. MacShane was educated on a Middlesex County scholarship at St Benedict’s School, Ealing and studied at Merton College, Oxford. He worked as a BBC journalist and trade unionist before completing a PhD at Birkbeck, University of London. Following the 2001 general election, he was appointed a junior minister at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In April 2002, he became Minister of State for Europe and was appointed to the Privy Council.