Matt Rodda
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property
Assumed office
5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byOffice established
Shadow Minister for Pensions
In office
7 January 2021 – 5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byJack Dromey
Succeeded byGill Furniss
Shadow Minister for Buses
In office
12 January 2018 – 7 January 2021
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Keir Starmer
Preceded byRichard Burden
Succeeded bySam Tarry
Member of Parliament
for Reading East
Assumed office
8 June 2017[1]
Preceded byRob Wilson
Majority5,924 (10.6%)
Personal details
Born (1966-12-15) 15 December 1966
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
WebsiteOfficial website

Matthew Richard Allen Rodda (born 15 December 1966) is a British former journalist and civil servant, and a current Labour Party politician. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP)[2] for the Reading East parliamentary constituency and Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

Early life and career

Rodda was raised in Wallingford in South Oxfordshire. He attended the University of Sussex[9] in the 1980s and trained as a journalist with Thomson.

After graduating, he worked for the Coventry Telegraph and was also a journalist for The Independent newspaper, specialising in education news.

He later became a civil servant in the Department for Education, and subsequently worked in the charity sector and for the Higher Education Academy.

In October 1999, he survived the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, an event to which he has attributed his desire to make a contribution to the community.[5][6]

Politics

Local government and early parliamentary bids

Rodda was elected as a councillor for Katesgrove Ward to Reading Borough Council in 2011. He stood without success for election in the East Surrey parliamentary constituency at the 2010 general election, and for the Reading East parliamentary constituency at the 2015 general election.[5][10][11]

MP in the 2017 parliament

Rodda was elected for the Reading East constituency on 8 June 2017 at the 2017 snap election. He received 27,093 votes, unseating the sitting MP, Rob Wilson of the Conservative Party, by a majority of 3,749.[4]

In January 2018, Rodda was promoted to a frontbench position in a Shadow Cabinet mini-shuffle, becoming the Shadow Minister for Local Transport.[3]

MP in the 2019 parliament

In the general election held on 12 December 2019 Rodda was returned as the member of parliament for Reading East with an increased majority of 5,924. Rodda nominated Emily Thornberry in the 2020 Labour leadership election.[12]

In the first Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer, Rodda was appointed Shadow Minister for Buses.[13]

In January 2021, Rodda was appointed Shadow Minister for Pensions after Jack Dromey was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet Office after Helen Hayes resigned to abstain on the Brexit Bill. Rodda was replaced as Shadow Minister for Buses by Sam Tarry.[14] In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Contact information for Matt Rodda - MPS and Lords - UK Parliament".
  2. ↑ "Matt Rodda MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Jeremy Corbyn makes frontbench appointments". Labour Press. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Reading East parliamentary constituency – Election 2017 – BBC News". Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "South East 2014 European Elections Hustings". Dialogue Society. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 "An interview with Matt Rodda, Labour's candidate for East Surrey". The Caterham and District Independent. 1 April 2010. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Matt Rodda". MyParliament. UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  9. ↑ "Rodda, Mathew Richard Allen". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 14 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ↑ "Parliamentary results 2015". Reading Borough Council. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Rolling list: MP/MEP nominations for Labour leadership candidates". Labour List. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  13. ↑ "Keir Starmer appoints Labour frontbench". The Labour Party. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna. "New roles for Dromey, Anderson, Rodda and Tarry in Labour reshuffle". LabourList. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
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