Josh Simons | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forMakerfield | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Yvonne Fovargue |
| Majority | 5,399 (13.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (age 31) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge (BA) Harvard University (PhD) |
Josh Simons (born 24 July 1993) is a BritishLabour Party politician serving asMember of Parliament forMakerfield since2024.
Josh Simons was born on 24 July 1993[1][2] to a Jewish father fromBury,Greater Manchester.[2] He was educated atThe Perse School inCambridge.[3]
Simons was an undergraduate atSt John's College, Cambridge, where he studied for aBachelor of Arts inSocial and Political Sciences. Supervised byHelen Thompson, he graduated at the top of his year in 2015 with a starred double first.[4] He was an editor of the student newspapersVarsity andThe Tab.[citation needed]
Simons worked atCambridge University as a research assistant toAmartya Sen from 2014 until 2015, when he moved to theInstitute of Public Policy Research.
He became a policy adviser to theLeader of the Opposition in 2015, followingJeremy Corbyn's election asLabour Leader. Simons moved from the Leader's Office toLondon Labour in 2016, and returned to Cambridge as a research assistant toHelen Thompson later in the year.
Simons has cited "persistent failure" to tackle antisemitism for his resignation from Corbyn's office.[4][5] He later contributed to theEquality and Human Rights Commission's investigation intoLabour antisemitism.
Simons studied for a doctorate in Government, Political Theory and Political Science atHarvard University from 2016 to 2021. His doctorate was supervised by academicsMichael Sandel,Danielle Allen,Richard Tuck andCynthia Dwork. It was adapted into his bookAlgorithms for the People: Democracy in the Age of AI.[6][7] Simons continued at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow.
He was a visiting research scientist atFacebook from 2018 to 2022, developing the company's ethics strategy forartificial intelligence. He co-founded the Civic Power Fund in 2019, which fundraises to provide grants for community organisations.
Simons has been a fellow at theBennett Institute for Public Policy, the Institute for the Future of Work, andNew America. He has also been a trustee of theNew Economics Foundation and Engage Britain, and a governor of theNHS Northern Care Alliance.
Simons stood as aLabour and Co-operative candidate in the2021 Bury Council election, finishing second-place to theConservative candidate in Church ward.[8]
Simons was director of the think tankLabour Together from 2022 until his Parliamentary selection in 2024.[9]
Simons was elected as MP forMakerfield at the2024 general election.[10] He was selected by Labour'sNational Executive Committee several weeks before the election, afterYvonne Fovargue announced that she wouldn't seek re-election.[11]
Simons was a founding member of the Labour Growth Group.[12]
In November 2024, Simons was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary for theDepartment for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). He is now a PPS for theMinistry of Justice.
Simons is married with two children, and met his wife atHarvard University.[3]
He has relocated to the Wigan area following the General Election.
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