Josh Simons
Josh Simons (born 24 July 1993) is a British Labour Party politician who was elected Member of Parliament for Makerfield in 2024. He was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office in 2025, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Government at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 9 January 2026. He was under investigation in early 2026, with calls for his resignation, for identifying journalists who had published an article unfavourable to Labour Together, a thinktank he ran, naming them to British intelligence, and falsely linking them to pro-Russian propaganda. He resigned his ministerial positions on 28 February 2026.
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Josh Simons | |
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 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Government | |
| In office 9 January 2026 – 28 February 2026 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | James Frith |
| Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office | |
| In office 7 September 2025 – 28 February 2026 | |
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Georgia Gould Abena Oppong-Asare |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent |
| Member of Parliament for Makerfield | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Yvonne Fovargue |
| Majority | 5,399 (13.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joshua Cameron Simons 24 July 1993 |
| Party | Labour |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge (BA) Harvard University (PhD) |
Josh Simons (born 24 July 1993) is a British Labour Party politician who was elected Member of Parliament for Makerfield in 2024. He was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office in 2025, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Government at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 9 January 2026.
He was under investigation in early 2026, with calls for his resignation, for identifying journalists who had published an article unfavourable to Labour Together, a thinktank he ran, naming them to British intelligence, and falsely linking them to pro-Russian propaganda.[1] He resigned his ministerial positions on 28 February 2026.[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Josh Simons was born on 24 July 1993.[3][4] His father was Jewish and from Bury, Greater Manchester.[4] He was educated at The Perse School in Cambridge.[5]
Simons was an undergraduate at St John's College, Cambridge, where he studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Social and Political Sciences, supervised by Helen Thompson.[6] He was an editor of the student newspapers Varsity and The Tab.[citation needed]
Early career and academia
[edit]Simons worked at Cambridge University as a research assistant to Amartya Sen from 2014 until 2015, when he moved to the Institute of Public Policy Research.[citation needed]
He became a policy adviser to the Leader of the Opposition in 2015, following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour Leader. Simons moved from the Leader's Office to London Labour in 2016, and returned to Cambridge as a research assistant to Helen Thompson later in the year.[citation needed]
Simons has cited "persistent failure" to tackle antisemitism for his resignation from Corbyn's office.[6][7] He later contributed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's investigation into Labour antisemitism.[citation needed]
Simons studied for a doctorate in Government, Political Theory and Political Science at Harvard University from 2016 to 2021. His doctorate was supervised by academics Michael Sandel, Danielle Allen, Richard Tuck and Cynthia Dwork.[citation needed] It was adapted into his book Algorithms for the People: Democracy in the Age of AI.[8][9] Simons continued at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow.[citation needed]
Simons worked for Meta in its artificial intelligence program.[10] In 2019 he worked for Civic Power Fund as a fundraiser.[5]
Simons has been a fellow at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, the Institute for the Future of Work, and New America. He has also been a trustee of the New Economics Foundation and Engage Britain, and a governor of the NHS Northern Care Alliance.[citation needed]
Simons stood as a Labour and Co-operative candidate in the 2021 Bury Council election, finishing second-place to the Conservative candidate in Church ward.[11]
Director of Labour Together
[edit]In 2022 Simons became the director of the think tank Labour Together[12] which he led until his Parliamentary selection in 2024.[13]
He provoked strong criticism in February 2024 when, during an interview with LBC, he suggested that Channel smuggling gangs should be put on a barge and sent to Scotland. Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, condemned the comments as "stupid" and "cringe". Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: "There should be no place in the Labour Party for these disgraceful comments." Simons apologised, saying the remarks were made "in jest".[14]
In February 2026 it was reported that PR firm APCO Worldwide had investigated the private affairs of several journalists when commissioned by Labour Together, whilst Simons was director, to ascertain the source of reports about Labour Together's late declaration of certain donations.[15] The Sunday Times reported that the APCO report, named "Operation Cannon", was written by a former Sunday Times employee and was shown to Labour shadow cabinet members, falsely suggesting that two Sunday Times journalists were part of a Russian campaign to politically harm Starmer. Labour Together sent a shorter version of the APCO report to GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which declined to investigate.[16]
The prime minister Keir Starmer subsequently asked the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards to investigate whether Simons' conduct had breached the Ministerial Code.[17] Simons claimed that by including this information in its report APCO Worldwide had gone beyond what had been asked of them. He welcomed the launch of an investigation into APCO Worldwide's conduct by the Public Relations and Communications Association.[16][18] The Guardian newspaper on 20 February 2026 reported that it had seen the emails to NCSC and disclosed some of their contents, and that there were calls for Simons to resign or be sacked.[1][19] In March 2026, Simons said he had been naïve in his involvement with Labour Together.[20]
Parliamentary career
[edit]MP
[edit]Simons was elected as MP for Makerfield at the 2024 general election.[21] He was selected by Labour's National Executive Committee several weeks before the election, after Yvonne Fovargue announced that she wouldn't seek re-election.[22]
Simons is a co-founder and co-chair of the Labour Growth Group.[23]
PPS
[edit]In November 2024, Simons was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He subsequently became a PPS for the Ministry of Justice.[24]
Minister
[edit]In the 2025 British cabinet reshuffle, Simons was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, covering the maternity leave of Satvir Kaur under the standing orders of Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021.[25] On 9 January 2026 Simons was additionally appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,[26] responsible for supporting and providing assurance to the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Cabinet Office and the Secretary of State for DSIT on the design and cross-government delivery of digital ID, data transformation and digital public services.[27]
Simons resigned from his ministerial positions on 28 February 2026 due to his role in the smear campaign against journalists but having been cleared of any breach of the Ministerial Code.[28][29]
Personal life
[edit]Simons met his wife at Harvard University. They have two children.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Dyer, Henry; Sabbagh, Dan (20 February 2026). "Labour minister falsely linked journalists to 'pro-Kremlin' network in emails to GCHQ". The Guardian.
- ^ Markson, Tevye (2 March 2026). "Cabinet Office minister resigns". Civil Service World. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
- ^ Blewett, Sam (24 July 2024). "The prosecutor becomes the defendant". POLITICO. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ a b Jackson, Nick (19 June 2024). "Meet Labour's new contender for Wigan's Makerfield seat". Wigan Today.
- ^ a b c Brown, Rivkah (6 June 2024). "Who Is 'Starmtrooper' Josh Simons?". Novara Media. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ a b Eaton, George (20 May 2024). "What does Labour Together want?". New Statesman. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ Simons, Josh (10 September 2016). "Why Jews in Labour place little trust in Jeremy Corbyn". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Joshua Simons". scholar.harvard.edu. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ "Josh Simons". Bennett Institute. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ Stacey, Kiran (14 October 2024). "Westminster's reliance on Elon Musk's X is 'totally wrong', says Labour MP". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- ^ "Election results". Bury Council. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ Courea, Eleni (25 October 2023). "Meet the Labour think tank guiding Keir Starmer's path to power". Politico. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
- ^ Clarke, Gaynor (30 May 2024). "Think-tank director selected as Labour's candidate for Makerfield in upcoming general election". Wigan Today.
- ^ Gregory, Andy (13 February 2024). "Labour MP hopeful apologises for saying smuggling gangs should be shipped to Scotland". The Independent. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
- ^ Grierson, Jamie (6 February 2026). "Labour thinktank close to Morgan McSweeney 'paid firm to investigate journalists'" – via The Guardian.
- ^ a b Midolo, Emanuele (14 February 2026). "Labour activists paid for smear campaign against journalists". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 14 February 2026.
- ^ "PM orders ethics investigation into minister over Labour Together claims". BBC News. 23 February 2026. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ^ Quinn, Ben; Dyer, Henry (15 February 2026). "Starmer facing calls for inquiry into Labour thinktank's investigation of journalists". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- ^ Sabbagh, Dan; Dyer, Henry (21 February 2026). "Labour minister faces calls to be sacked over false claims against journalists". The Guardian.
- ^ Goldsmith, Adam (28 March 2026). "'I was naive', says minister who quit over Labour Together claims". BBC News. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
- ^ "Makerfield - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Green, Daniel; Belger, Tom (29 May 2024). "Selections drama as Waugh and Starmer allies Akehurst and Simons picked but Russell-Moyle out and Shaheen 'at risk'". LabourList. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ Maguire, Patrick (30 July 2024). "How No 10 is shoring up Labour group of shock troops". The Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024.
- ^ Graham, Charles (12 January 2026). "My job will be to make government work better for millions of people across Britain". Wigan Today. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
- ^ Bardsley, Andrew (7 September 2025). "Winners and losers as Greater Manchester MPs affected by Government reshuffle". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
- ^ "Appointment: 9 January 2026". GOV.UK.
- ^ "Josh Simons MP". GOV.UK.
- ^ Nimoni, Fiona (28 February 2026). "Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons resigns after Labour Together claims". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ "Letter from the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards and exchange of letters between the Prime Minister and Josh Simons MP: 28 February 2026". GOV.UK.
External links
[edit]
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
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