Not to be confused with Josh Simmons.

Josh Simons
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Government
In office
9 January 2026 – 1 March 2026
Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Preceded by Office established
Succeeded by James Frith
Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
In office
7 September 2025 – 1 March 2026
Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Preceded by Georgia Gould
Abena Oppong-Asare
Succeeded by Ruth Anderson
Member of Parliament
for Makerfield
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded by Yvonne Fovargue
Succeeded by TBD
Personal details
Born Joshua Cameron Simons
(1993-07-24) 24 July 1993 (age 32)
Party Labour
Children 3
Alma mater
St John's College, Cambridge (BA)
Harvard University (PhD)

Joshua Cameron Simons (born 24 July 1993) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Makerfield since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he briefly served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital Government in 2026.

In early 2026 it was reported that Simons had been responsible for investigating the private affairs of journalists who had published an article unfavourable to Labour Together, a think tank he ran. Simons was accused of naming them to British intelligence, and falsely linking them to pro-Russian propaganda.[1][2] On 28 February 2026, he resigned his ministerial positions, stating that while he had been cleared of breaching the Ministerial Code, the allegations had become a "distraction" from the government's work.[3][4] On 14 May 2026, he announced that he would be standing down from Parliament, in order to allow Andy Burnham to contest the ensuing by-election.[5]

Early life and education

Josh Simons was born on 24 July 1993.[6][7] His father was Jewish and from Bury, Greater Manchester.[7] He was educated at The Perse School in Cambridge.[8]

At St John's College, Cambridge, Simons read Social and Political Sciences, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, supervised by Helen Thompson.[9] He was an editor of the student newspapers Varsity and The Tab.[8] He went on to complete a doctorate in Government, Political Theory and Political Science at Harvard University[10] which he later adapted into his book Algorithms for the People: Democracy in the Age of AI.[11][12] He subsequently held a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard.[13]

Early career

After graduating from Cambridge, Simons worked as a research assistant to Amartya Sen at the university before joining the Institute for Public Policy Research in 2015.[14] That year he became a policy adviser to Jeremy Corbyn following Corbyn's election as Labour leader. Despite reports he resigned after demotion due to "suspected leaking",[8] Simons cited the party's "persistent failure" to tackle antisemitism as the reason for his departure from Corbyn's office.[9][15] He later contributed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's investigation into Labour antisemitism.[16] After leaving the Leader's Office he worked briefly for London Labour before returning to Cambridge as a research assistant to Helen Thompson.[citation needed]

Between 2018 and 2022, Simons worked for Meta as a Visiting Research Scientist in its artificial intelligence programme.[17] He has subsequently said that during this period he repeatedly warned the company's leadership about the addictive risks of its technology to children.[18] In 2025, Simons was subpoenaed in multi-district litigation against Meta over social media harms in the United States, and in 2026 two separate American juries found that Meta had knowingly designed addictive products that harmed children, including in the California case for which Simons had been deposed.[19]

In the 2021 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council election, Simons stood as the Labour and Co-operative candidate in Church ward, finishing second to the Conservative candidate.[20]

Director of Labour Together

In 2022 Simons became the director of the think tank Labour Together,[21] which he led until his Parliamentary selection in 2024.[22]

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".[23]

In February 2026, it was reported that PR firm APCO Worldwide had investigated the private affairs of several journalists after being commissioned by Labour Together whilst Simons was director, to ascertain the source of reports about Labour Together's late declaration of certain donations.[24] 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.[25] Prime minister Keir Starmer asked the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards to investigate whether Simons had breached the Ministerial Code.[26] In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Independent Advisor found there was "no basis" for advising "of any breach of the Ministerial Code" by Simons, but that the story may continue to pose "potential reputational damage" to his government.[4]

On 1 March 2026, Simons resigned from government, stating that he did not wish to become a "distraction".[27]

Parliamentary career

MP

Simons was elected as MP for Makerfield at the 2024 general election.[28] He was selected by Labour's National Executive Committee several weeks before the election, after Yvonne Fovargue announced that she would not seek re-election.[29] Simons is a co-founder and co-chair of the Labour Growth Group.[30]

In May 2026, after damaging losses for Labour in local elections, Simons called for Keir Starmer to step down as Prime Minister and begin an orderly transition to find a successor.[31] The following week, Simons announced his resignation as an MP, triggering a by-election so that Andy Burnham could stand for the constituency, following speculation around an ensuing Labour party leadership election.[32]

PPS

In November 2024, Simons was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), subsequently becoming a PPS for the Ministry of Justice.[33]

Minister

In the 2025 British cabinet reshuffle, Simons was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, covering the maternity leave of Satvir Kaur under the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021.[34] On 9 January 2026 he was additionally appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology,[35] with responsibility for the design and cross-government delivery of digital ID, data transformation and digital public services.[36] Simons resigned from both ministerial positions on 1 March 2026 due to his role in the smear campaign against journalists but having been cleared of any breach of the Ministerial Code.[37][38]

Personal life

Simons met his wife at Harvard University. They have three children.[39]

References

  1. ^ Dyer, Henry; Sabbagh, Dan (20 February 2026). "Labour minister falsely linked journalists to 'pro-Kremlin' network in emails to GCHQ". The Guardian.
  2. ^ Sabbagh, Dan; Dyer, Henry (21 February 2026). "Labour minister faces calls to be sacked over false claims against journalists". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Markson, Tevye (2 March 2026). "Cabinet Office minister resigns". Civil Service World. Retrieved 24 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b Magnus, Laurie (27 February 2026). "Letter from the Independent Adviser to the Prime Minister" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  5. ^ Green, Daniel (14 May 2026). "Josh Simons to stand down as MP to allow Burnham return to Parliament". LabourList. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  6. ^ Blewett, Sam (24 July 2024). "The prosecutor becomes the defendant". POLITICO. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b Jackson, Nick (19 June 2024). "Meet Labour's new contender for Wigan's Makerfield seat". Wigan Today.
  8. ^ a b c Brown, Rivkah (6 June 2024). "Who Is 'Starmtrooper' Josh Simons?". Novara Media. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b Eaton, George (20 May 2024). "What does Labour Together want?". New Statesman. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Josh Simons". CRASSH. University of Cambridge. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Joshua Simons". scholar.harvard.edu. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Josh Simons". Bennett Institute. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  13. ^ Safra Center News (3 September 2021). "New Article from Josh Simons in The Guardian". Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. Harvard University. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  14. ^ Simons, Joshua (3 January 2018). "Joshua Simons - Contributors". These Islands. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  15. ^ Simons, Josh (10 September 2016). "Why Jews in Labour place little trust in Jeremy Corbyn". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  16. ^ Doherty, Rosa (7 August 2016). "Claims of antisemitism in Labour 'whitewashed' by Chakrabarti Inquiry". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Sylvester, Rachel (29 March 2026). "'People died': Meta failed to heed warnings about harms to children". The Observer. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  19. ^ Hays, Kali; Saad, Nardine; Morris, Regan (25 March 2026). "Campaigners welcome Meta and YouTube's defeat in landmark social media addiction trial". BBC News. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  20. ^ "Election results". Bury Council. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  21. ^ Courea, Eleni (25 October 2023). "Meet the Labour think tank guiding Keir Starmer's path to power". Politico. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  22. ^ Clarke, Gaynor (30 May 2024). "Think-tank director selected as Labour's candidate for Makerfield in upcoming general election". Wigan Today.
  23. ^ Gregory, Andy (13 February 2024). "Labour MP hopeful apologises for saying smuggling gangs should be shipped to Scotland". The Independent. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  24. ^ Grierson, Jamie (6 February 2026). "Labour thinktank close to Morgan McSweeney 'paid firm to investigate journalists'". The Guardian.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ Morton, Becky (23 February 2026). "PM orders ethics investigation into minister over Labour Together claims". BBC News. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  27. ^ Nimoni, Fiona; Watson, Iain (28 February 2026). "Minister Josh Simons resigns after Labour Together claims". BBC News. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
  28. ^ "Makerfield - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ 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.
  31. ^ Simons, Josh. "We need radicalism, energy, immense courage — and a new prime minister". The Times.
  32. ^ Mason, Chris; Zeffman, Henry; Pike, Joe; Watson, Iain (14 May 2026). "Starmer tells Streeting that government must 'deliver on promises' after health secretary resigns". BBC News. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  33. ^ 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.
  34. ^ Bardsley, Andrew (7 September 2025). "Winners and losers as Greater Manchester MPs affected by Government reshuffle". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  35. ^ "Appointment: 9 January 2026". GOV.UK.
  36. ^ "Josh Simons MP". GOV.UK.
  37. ^ Nimoni, Fiona (28 February 2026). "Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons resigns after Labour Together claims". BBC News. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
  38. ^ "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.
  39. ^ Clarke, Gaynor (13 April 2026). "Makerfield MP Josh Simons thanks Wigan Infirmary staff for saving his baby son's life". Wigan Today. Retrieved 21 April 2026.
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