Jonathan Reynolds was first elected as the Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in 2010, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 2,946.
He serves as the shadow secretary of state for business and trade, after his brief was changed in Keir Starmer’s 2023 reshuffle to reflect Rishi Sunak’s own shake-up of Whitehall conducted in February 2023.
In his role, Reynolds shadows secretary of state for business and trade Kemi Badenoch.
The constituency of Stalybridge and Hyde is found to the east of Greater Manchester on the slopes of the Pennine hills. This seat contains three main towns in Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge, alongside the Werneth Low Country Park.
This seat has been held by the Labour Party continuously ever since the Second World War. It was formerly represented by the Blairite Culture Secretary, James Purnell. Some three fifths of the electorate here backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
Reynolds was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy in November 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, he served in the Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Reynolds previously served as Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury (2016 to 2020) under Jeremy Corbyn, and Shadow Minister for Rail (2015-16). He was an Opposition Spokesman on Climate Change between 2013 and 2015.
He supported Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election. He had backed Liz Kendall in the 2015 contest.
Born in 1980 to the son of a fireman, Reynolds grew up in Sunderland studied at the University of Manchester and BBP Law School (Manchester).
Before being elected as an MP he worked as an assistant to the Labour councillors on Stockport Council, and then as an assistant to the former MP for this seat, James Purnell. He was training to be a solicitor at Addleshaw Goddard, in Manchester when he was selected to contest this seat for Labour.
Reynolds was previously elected to Tameside Council. He also once represented young Labour members, on the NEC, Labour’s governing body.
Reynolds is a member of the Co-operative Party and the Unite union.
Generally seen as being on the right of the Labour Party, Reynolds is an outspoken supporter of proportional representation.
He is married with four children. He employs his wife as a Senior Parliamentary Assistant.
Jonathan Reynolds is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Autism; Financial Education for Young People; Infant Feeding and Inequalities; Manufacturing; and the Peak District. He is Deputy Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on China.
Email: jonathan.reynolds.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.jonathanreynolds.org.uk
Twitter: @jreynoldsMP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/JonathanreynoldsMP
