Jake Richards is the Labour MP for Rother Valley, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Richards won 16,023 votes, representing 38.5% of the vote. The Conservative Party candidate, Alexander Stafford, received 15,025 votes (36.1%), while the Reform UK candidate, Tony Harrison, secured 7,679 votes (18.5%). Richards was duly elected with a majority of 998.

The Rother Valley constituency is located in South Yorkshire. The seat was represented by the Labour Party from its creation in 1918 to the 2019 election. Alexander Stafford of the Conservative Party held the seat from 2019 to 2024.

Political Career

Richards was appointed to the post of parliamentary under-secretary of state for sentencing, youth justice and international in the Ministry of Justice in the September 2025 ministerial reshuffle.

Richards served as an assistant government whip from September 2025 to July 2026. He lost this post as part of the July 2026 reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

In October 2024, Richards introduced the Looked After Children (Distance Placements) Bill as a private members’ bill (PMB). He introduced the proposed legislation after placing eleventh in the PMB ballot at the start of parliamentary session in 2024.

The bill sought to introduce a legal requirement for local authorities and the Department of Education to collect and publish data about the extent to which they are finding local placements for children in care.

Richard addressed the House during the bill’s second reading debate in March 2025.

Richards noted that freedom of information data revealed nearly 10% of children in care in England lived more than 50 miles from home.

He stated: “Those are not isolated outliers; they are thousands of children sent far from their schools and support networks, and often their siblings and other family members, not because it is in their best interests, but because there is simply nowhere nearby for them to go.”

He added: “The bill would change expectations by restoring proximity as the norm, and placing the burden of justification on those who propose to go against that norm. If it were our children, we would expect them to stay close to home and their community, where they feel safe. We would expect a proper plan. Ultimately, that is all the bill asks of the government.”

Richards has sat as a member of the House of Commons home affairs select committee (2024-2025). He was also a member of the public bill committee for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill from January to March 2025.

Richards delivered his maiden speech on 4 September 2024 during a debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill.

In it, he said: “In the early hours of 5 July, which just happened to be my birthday, we celebrated the end of 14 years of Conservative government and the first Labour government of my adult life, but we also humbly accept the responsibility that we have been given…

“We cannot overlook the deep apathy towards the ability of politics, and indeed this place, to effect change.”

He added: “There has been the rise of online disinformation blaming bogeymen who do not exist. Conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors purposefully ignore the complexities of the world around us for attention…

“Political culture too often thrives on division and controversy, not the common good…

“The hyperactive vitriolic politics seen so often across the Atlantic is seeping into our discourse here, undermining constructive dialogue.”

Political views

Factional identity and party tradition

Red Wall Caucus: Richards is a member of the Labour Red Wall Caucus, a parliamentary pressure group of Labour MPs representing constituencies in the Midlands and Northern England. Formed in November 2024 and led by Bassetlaw MP Jo White, the caucus serves as a voice for the so-called “red wall” seats that returned to Labour en masse at the 2024 general election.

In May 2025, following a series of disappointing local election results for the Labour Party, the caucus issued a statement calling for a shift in government strategy. The group argued that Keir Starmer’s “plan for change” messaging had “fallen on deaf ears”, inviting ministers to “visit our areas, listen and rebuild the social contract between government and the people.”

The statement added: “The demands raised by new MPs from post-industrial towns where infrastructure is poor with years of underinvestment must be taken off the too-difficult-to-do list.

“Breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need. The government needs to it improve messaging by telling our story and articulating our values in the language that resonates and is heard.”

In a subsequent letter to Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, on 27 August 2025, the MPs said they were elected “with commitments to destroy the criminal smuggling gang networks, ensure that our border is secure… and to quickly remove those who have no entitlement to be here.”

Get Britain Working Group: Richards has been listed as a member of the Get Britain Working Group of Labour MPs – a caucus supportive of the Starmer leadership’s position on welfare. The group argues for a “new social contract built on employment and opportunity”, focusing on the rising number of people out of the workforce due to long-term sickness.

In an open letter, issued upon the group’s founding in March 2025, the group expressed its support for the government’s welfare measures set out in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. The bill was subject to a significant revolt of over 120 Labour MPs – which forced ministers into a series of concessions shortly before its first vote in the House of Commons.

Ahead of the bill’s fraught second reading debate, the MPs wrote: “Our Labour values are built on a simple but powerful idea: that every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, should have the support they need to make the most of their lives.”

Labour Growth Group: Richards has been listed as a member of the Labour Growth Group (LGG) – a vocal faction of backbenchers committed to ensuring economic growth remains the central mission of the government. The group, largely composed of MPs from the 2024 intake, positions itself as the voice of “the builders, not the blockers” and provides organised support for ministers taking on politically difficult decisions in the name of economic expansion.

In an open letter addressed to Keir Starmer, issued upon the group’s founding in July 2024, LGG MPs said it was imperative that “the government grasps the nettle and goes for growth”.

They added: “This absolutely has to start with the sweeping planning reforms to get Britain building again. Under the Tories, planning permissions for new homes hit record lows and housebuilding cratered. Indeed, not once in their 14 years in power did the Conservatives meet their housing targets.”

SERA: Richards has been listed as a member of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) – a socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. Founded in 1973, SERA is the party’s official environmental campaign group. The organisation campaigns on a wide range of issues, including renewable energy, biodiversity, air quality and the transition to a green economy. SERA describes its member MPs as “champions for the environment”.

Labour Movement for Europe: Richards was endorsed by the Labour Movement for Europe (LME) in the 2024 general election. Founded in 1981, LME is a pro-European socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. It campaigns for a close relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The organisation refers to itself as the “home of the pro-Europeans in the Labour and trade union movement”.

Fair elections APPG: Richards has been listed as a supporter of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Richards voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Richards voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Richards voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Jacob Ben Richards was born in London on 5 July 1989.

Richards attended Highgate School in North London and Woodhouse College.

Richards studied history at Somerville College, Oxford, graduating in 2010.

Before entering parliament, Richards worked as a barrister at Deka Chambers in London, specialising in public and family law.

Personal Life

Richards is the son of the journalist and broadcaster Steve Richards.

His sister, Amy Richards, has served as an adviser to senior Labour politicians. Amy Richards is married to Gregor Poynton, the Labour MP for Livingston.

Richards is married to Liz Bates, former Sky News journalist who was appointed as a media adviser to Labour frontbencher Steve Reed in September 2025.

Trivia

Richards’s brother-in-law is fellow Labour MP Gregor Poynton.