JOHNATHAN REYNOLDS BUSINESS & TRADE SECRETARY CABINET STALYBRIDGE HYDE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT MPs SIR KEIR STARMER's LABOUR MINISTERS AND SECRETARIES OF STATE 2025 GOVERNMENT FOR KING CHARLES

Reynolds was first elected as the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in 2010, and has held several front bench roles over the years, including under Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir appointed him as shadow work and pensions secretary in 2020 before he was moved to the business brief in 2021. Before becoming an MP, he worked at Stockport council and qualified as a lawyer.

After the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the 2024 general election, Reynolds was appointed as Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade by the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the ensuing formation of the new government. In one of his first statements as Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds ruled out moving to ID cards.

Reynolds served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition and a Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister from 2013 to 2015. He was a Shadow Transport Minister from 2015 to 2016 and a Shadow Treasury Minister from 2016 until 2020. He was Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2020 to 2021, and has been a front bench representative on the Labour National Executive Committee since 2020.

Following the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, Keir Starmer appointed Reynolds as the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Reynolds addressed the failings of the Universal Credit system, which he argued did not adequately support vulnerable people while calling for reforming legacy benefits and improving the overall welfare system to ensure fair and dignified support for all recipients. He frequently called for an emergency budget to tackle the immediate economic impacts of the pandemic and focusing on the need for long-term planning in pensions and social security.

In September 2023, after a shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

Reynolds advocated for a balanced approach to the UK-EU relationship since the Brexit referendum. He said that Labour would not seek to rejoin the EU’s single market or customs union, focusing instead on achieving a more favourable trade deal with the EU without reopening Brexit debates. He also said that he believed that political stability and good-faith negotiations were crucial for enhancing the trading relationship with the EU, aiming for practical improvements such as mutual recognition of professional qualifications and easier inter-company transfers.

Reynolds also supported an industrial strategy inspired by Bidenomics, focusing on re-industrialising and decarbonising the economy through strategic investments and regulatory changes which aimed to align domestic industrial policy with foreign trade policy, ensuring that the economic benefits of green transitions would be felt by British workers.

Reynolds focused on revitalising the country’s industrial strategy and addressing the economic challenges post-Brexit. Reynolds initiative was the launch of Labour’s industrial strategy, which aimed to tackle issues such as supply chain disruptions and workforce skills shortages, with an emphasis on delivering clean power and reducing carbon dependency by 2030 and leveraging for the launch of a state-owned energy company. Reynolds was a staunch advocate for the Green Prosperity Plan, which aimed to create a million new jobs through green investment which would guarantee economic benefits by achieving net zero emissions, including reduced energy costs and new jobs.

Reynolds was vocal about the inadequacies of government policy regarding energy regulation and criticised the government’s particularly handling of prepayment meter installations that adversely affected vulnerable customers. He proposed more stringent policies and better support for small businesses facing high energy costs. His relationship with key Labour frontbenchers, such as Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and advocacy for green energy underscored Labour’s commitment to creating a green economy.