Josh Simons was the Labour MP for Makerfield, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election. He stood down as an MP in May 2026. 

In the 2024 general election, Simons won 18,202 votes, representing 45.2% of the vote. The Reform UK candidate, Robert Kenyon, received 12,803 votes (31.8%), while the Conservative candidate, Simon Finkelstein, secured 4,379 votes (10.9%). Simons was duly elected with a majority of 5,399 votes.

The Makerfield constituency is located in Greater Manchester, North West England. The seat has been represented by Labour since its creation in 1983.

Political Career

Simons resigned as the MP for Makerfield in May 2026. It came after he called on the prime minister, Keir Starmer, to resign following the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

Simons’ resignation was designed to enable the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to stand as an MP in Makerfield. 

In a statement issued upon resigning, Simons said: “It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference. That must start with a change in leadership.

“Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for.”

Simons was appointed to the post of parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Office in the September 2025 ministerial reshuffle.

Simons resigned in February 2026 after facing claims that Labour Together, the think tank he ran before entering parliament, commissioned a report that looked into journalists’ backgrounds.

In his resignation letter, Simons wrote that “my remaining in office has now become a distraction from this government’s important work.”

He added: “The work of reporters like Gabriel Pogrund, Harry Yorke, and Henry Dyer sustains our democracy. With rigour and objectivity, they hold those in positions of power to account. In an age when trust in politics is low, anything perceived to be an attack on their integrity and independence deserves thorough investigation.

“As I have said many times, I never sought to smear these newspaper reporters. I have not been able to go into detail on these claims while this investigation has been ongoing.”

Simons previously served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Ministry of Justice (2025). A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. Simons was also a PPS in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2024-2025). 

Simons delivered his maiden speech on 9 September 2024 during a debate on sanctions on Russia. 

In it, he said: “I hope to use my career to contribute on this question of the future. I spent years working on technology, data and machine learning. Too often, we talk about technology as an inexorable force, as if it bends society to its will, but it has no will. 

“Technology is a tool. We build it, we design it and we use it in our world in ways that we choose. Now more than ever, we must have the interests of working people in mind as we harness the great potential of technology.”

He added:  “However, my family is what brings me more pride than anything. My parents divorced at a young age, so I grew up shifting between homes, towns and religions. I learned to see the best in people and in ways of living that could not be more different. Now I am lucky enough to see the world through the eyes of my children.

“Children are a bridge to the future. They inject hope for what our communities, our country, and we as individuals can be. That is why childcare will be a key focus of mine. We make having children too hard, too exhausting and too expensive in this country. 

“Radically reforming childcare may be one of the most effective ways to deliver change that working people can feel, as well as boosting our workforce, and that is why I will campaign hard for that reform over the coming months and years.”

Before entering parliament, Simons was director of the influential think tank Labour Together from 2022 to 2024. 

Simons briefly worked as a policy adviser in Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s office from 2015 to 2016. 

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Simons was one of 175 Labour MPs who nominated Bridget Phillipson for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Phillipson, the serving education secretary, was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by Downing Street and the party leadership. She secured 175 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 80 required to reach the final ballot. She was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Factional identity and party tradition

Labour Growth Group: Simons was 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. 

“Energy and transport projects were promised but not built. That’s why we are writing to you to make clear that it’s in the national interest to start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5 million more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity. 

“A failure to act will not be forgiven by the public. Britain has a housing crisis and a huge infrastructure deficit – without strong and immediate action, this will only worsen.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Simons 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 

Simons 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): Simons 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

Joshua Cameron Simons was born on 24 July 1993. He attended The Perse School in Cambridge.

Simons studied social and political sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 2015. He was awarded a PhD in political theory and politics science from Harvard University in 2021. 

Simons joined the centre-left Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank in 2015. He later worked for Meta.

Personal Life

Simons is married.

Trivia

Simons stood down as an MP to enable the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, to stand in his Makerfield constituency.