Mike Reader is the Labour MP for Northampton South, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Reader won 16,890 votes, representing 38.5% of the vote. The Conservative Party candidate, Andrew Lewer, received 12,819 votes (29.2%), while the Reform UK candidate, Tony Owens, secured 8,210 votes (18.7%). Reader was duly elected with a majority of 4,071.  

The Northampton South constituency is located in the East Midlands and was created in 1974. It was held by the Conservative Party from 1974 to 1997 and from 2005 to 2024. Labour previously represented the seat from 1997 to 2005.

Political Career

Reader is a member of the House of Commons energy security and net zero committee (since January 2025). The committee scrutinises the work of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

In March 2026, Reader, the Labour MP for Northampton South, introduced the Geotechnical Data Bill under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to mandate those conducting ground and site investigations to submit geotechnical data – such as those relating to borehole records, soil classifications, and rock core and groundwater – into the National Underground Asset Register.

Reader argued that the existing framework led to costly duplication and project delays, saying his bill would “bring factual ground investigation data and underground asset data into one place.”

Reader told the House: “Ultimately, this bill is about delivery. It updates nearly 200 years of legislative thinking for the digital age. For too long in this country, we have announced ambition and failed to modernise the systems around that ambition to ensure that it is realised.

“If we are serious about building 1.5 million homes, reinforcing our grid, strengthening our water infrastructure and delivering clean energy, we must modernise the way we handle the knowledge that underpins all that. This Bill closes a structural gap, strengthens an existing reform and supports growth.”

Reader was appointed as a government “business champion” for construction in the East Midlands – a role established in February 2025 to facilitate engagement between the Labour administration and the private sector. The position was part of a network of approximately 40 MPs appointed by the Department for Business and Trade to act as conduits for industry views on government policy. The grouping operated under the oversight of Dan Tomlinson, the national “mission champion” for growth.

The selection of champions was designed to leverage the professional expertise of the 2024 intake of MPs, and the role was seen as an early step on the Westminster ladder. However, the scheme was reportedly scrapped in July 2025 following a meeting at 10 Downing Street. According to a Guido Fawkes report, the business champions were told that their services were no longer required.

Reader is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for the built environment (chair), food and drink (chair), infrastructure (chair) and international trade and investment (chair).

Reader delivered his maiden speech on 5 September 2024 during a debate on the Great British Energy Bill.

In it, he said: “Unfortunately, we have had no shortage of Conservative scandals: public loans to our football club went missing, our county council was made bankrupt, the former police, fire and crime commissioner stood down over misogyny complaints, and alleged domestic abuse meant that the leader of the council resigned and now stands as an independent.”

He added: “This Labour government will make Northampton a place to be proud of. We will tackle our chronic air quality challenges; fix our roads; improve our bus network; ensure that housing is affordable, of good quality and highly sustainable; make work pay and a route out of poverty; grow the co-operative, social enterprise and mutual sector in our town; bring NHS dentists back to Northampton; end the 8 am scramble for GP appointments; face head-on the funding gap left in our public services; and address the special educational needs and disabilities crisis that is rocking our county.”

Political views

Factional identity and party tradition

Get Britain Working Group: Reader 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.

“Everyone who is capable of working deserves the security, dignity and agency that employment offers. Of course, there are some people who are not able to work and they must be treated with compassion and respect. But for those that can, we must restore the pathways to opportunity which are currently so sparse for millions of people.

“It is exactly what a Labour government exists to do.”

SERA: Reader 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 Housing: Reader was endorsed by the Labour Housing Group, a long-standing socialist society affiliated with the Labour party, at the 2024 general election. The group advocates a significant expansion of council and social housing, reform of the private rented sector to strengthen tenants’ rights, and tackling homelessness and poor housing conditions.

Labour Movement for Europe: Reader 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”.

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Reader is 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.

Electoral reform amendment: In May 2026, Reader was one of over 70 Labour MPs who signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, calling on the government to establish a “national commission on electoral reform”. Tabled by Alex Sobel as chair of the fair elections APPG, the amendment aimed to force a rethink of the first past the post voting system.

At the time, Sobel described FPTP as “one of the biggest examples of a broken status quo in UK politics.” He invited colleagues to join this “common sense call to take a fresh look at how parliament is elected in modern Britain.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Reader 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

Reader voted against 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): Reader 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

Reader studied civil engineering at Loughborough University, graduating in 2007. He obtained a master’s degree in civil engineering from Coventry University in 2009.

Reader worked in the construction sector for nearly 20 years before entering parliament, including roles at Pick Everard and Mace.

Personal Life

Reader lives in Northampton.

He is married.

Trivia

Reader joined the Labour Party in 2015.