Member of Parliament
Jake Richards
Labour MP for Rother Valley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)·Assistant Whip
At a glanceJake Richards is a Labour MP for Rother Valley, and has represented the seat for 2 years. They currently serve as Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice). They have cast 381 votes in Commons divisions (66% attendance), tabled 20 written questions and registered 4 financial interests.
Attendance is votes cast as a share of the 575 Commons divisions since the 2024 election; Jake Richards did not vote in 161. A rebellion is a vote against the way most of their own party voted; free votes, where no party line applies, are left out.
Party-loyalty figures are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.
Biography
He currently holds the Government posts of Assistant Whip, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice).
Current roles
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice) Government post · Ministry of Justice since 7 Sep 2025
- Assistant Whip Government post · Whips Office (Commons) since 7 Sep 2025
- Labour Party since 4 Jul 2024
- Rother Valley Representation · Elected 1 time since 4 Jul 2024
Voting record
Voting alignment
Votes most like
-
Rachel Hopkins
Labour
100.0% · 379 of 379 shared votes
-
Sir Alan Campbell
Labour
100.0% · 371 of 371 shared votes
-
Paul Davies
Labour
100.0% · 368 of 368 shared votes
-
Chris Vince
Labour (Co-op)
100.0% · 368 of 368 shared votes
-
Steve Yemm
Labour
100.0% · 365 of 365 shared votes
Votes least like
-
Alex Burghart
Conservative
0.7% · 2 of 274 shared votes
-
Sir Roger Gale
Conservative
0.8% · 2 of 242 shared votes
-
Mr Mark Francois
Conservative
0.8% · 2 of 238 shared votes
-
Mrs Kemi Badenoch
Conservative
0.8% · 1 of 125 shared votes
-
Alan Mak
Conservative
1.0% · 3 of 292 shared votes
Alignment figures are our own analysis of the official voting records (recorded votes only; they do not describe the formal whip). How we work this out.
Register of financial interests
From the official Register; shown as registered.
Employment and earnings1
- Legal services provided before my election to Parliament - Deka Chambers (registered 28 Aug 2024)
Family members engaged in third-party lobbying1
- Steve Richards employed as Lobbyist (registered 3 Aug 2024)
Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources1
- Google UK Ltd - £2,908.02 (registered 26 Jul 2025)
Miscellaneous1
- Associate member of Deka Chambers. (registered 4 Aug 2024)
Written questions
Mental Health Services: Telephone Services
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on implementing 24/7 mental health text lines.
Answer · 21 Jul 2025
Mental health crisis text services are an important part of delivering accessible and effective mental health support across the country. NHS England has confirmed that integrated care boards have plans to have 24 hour a day, seven day a week mental healt...
Resettlement: Afghanistan
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been granted entry clearance to the UK under the (a) Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, (b) Afghan citizens resettlement scheme and (c) Afghanistan Response Route.
Answer · 25 Jul 2025
From 2021 to the end of June 2025, there have been around 36,000 arrivals under the Afghan Resettlement Programme, of which 13,200 were through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, 19,000 through Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and 3,400 throu...
Department of Health and Social Care: Armed Forces Covenant
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across his Departmental responsibilities.
Answer · 10 Jul 2025
The Department is supportive of the extension of the Armed Forces Covenant. A key benefit of the Department having a legal duty to have due regard to the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant is greater awareness and consistency of the unique impacts of...
Home Office: Armed Forces Covenant
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Armed Forces Covenant Duty across her Departmental responsibilities.
Answer · 14 Jul 2025
The Home Office greatly values the contribution of all service personnel and remains committed to upholding its moral obligations under the Armed Forces Covenant.The Department already embeds the principles of the Covenant, specifically within the provisi...
Immigration: European Convention on Human Rights
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people (a) claim asylum and (b) receive leave to remain based solely on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answer · 11 Apr 2025
The information requested is not currently available from published statistics, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.The Hon Member may be interested to know that gra...
Children in Care: Scotland and Wales
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children under the care of English local authorities were living in (a) Wales and (b) Scotland on (i) 31 March 2024 and (ii) for each of the preceding four years.
Answer · 3 Mar 2025
The number of children looked after by English local authorities who were living more than 50 and 100 miles from home on 31 March 2024 and for each of the preceding four years is shown in the table below.YearLiving more than 50 miles from homeOf which: li...
Children in Care: Location
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in care in England were living more than (a) 50 and b) 100 miles from home on (i) 31 March 2024 and (ii) for each of the preceding four years.
Answer · 3 Mar 2025
The number of children looked after by English local authorities who were living more than 50 and 100 miles from home on 31 March 2024 and for each of the preceding four years is shown in the table below.YearLiving more than 50 miles from homeOf which: li...
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Public Consultation
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consultations his Department (a) initiated and (b) completed in the last Parliament between (i) 13 February 2020 and 6 September 2022, (ii) 6 September 2022 and 25 October 202
Answer · 19 Feb 2025
All Defra consultations are published through the Citizen Space digital consultation platform and are available in the public domain Defra - Citizen Space. The Defra Citizen Space account also hosts consultations for several of Defra’s Arm’s Length Bodies...
Speeches in the chamber
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
Sentencing judges always consider dangerousness and risk to the public, as probation officers do. Every offender has a level of dangerousness, which is risk-assessed by probation as and when they leave prison. That has happened for the las…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I understand my hon. Friend’s intervention. Let us be clear that many of the offenders we are talking about have been released previously and would continue being released but for the Sentencing Act. This is about what measures we put in t…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I will not give way another time. Once prisoners are released, offenders will be subject to strict licence conditions. We are adding tougher restrictions as part of the Probation Service’s toolkit for managing offenders when they leav…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s kind words, personally, but I gently say that the Opposition party has no plan for how to deal with the prison crisis that its amendment would have brought about later this year—there is no plan; the…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
As happened on numerous occasions under Boris Johnson and Theresa May, in Opposition day debates the Government are quite within their rights not to divide on an issue—an Opposition day is an Opposition day. This Government are dealing …
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
Absolutely. The hon. Lady’s call for us all to reflect on that will be taken up. I know that the Justice Secretary and the Victims Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson), who is sitting next to me, will ha…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I am not sure which letters the right hon. Member is referring to, because none of the letters sent out by the Ministry of Justice has referred to people already being released. I understand the concerns that she raises. We take our engage…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I understand. I meet victims all the time in my role at the Ministry of Justice. Before being elected to Parliament, I represented many victims of child sexual abuse every day in courts up and down the country. I understand the issues that…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
Some Opposition Members still think he is a great man. I do not think that is a universal view on the Opposition Benches. Following publication of the review, the Sentencing Bill began its passage through Parliament and received Royal A…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
Let me make some progress first. The Home Secretary recognised that alongside prison building, there would be a need to reform sentencing, and for that be done above party politics. That is the principal reason why she asked Sir David G…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
What we will not do is put our head in the sand, which would lead to another prison capacity crisis, which would lead to another urgent, chaotic early release scheme as we saw under the last Conservative Government time and again. I cannot…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s intervention. He has been consistent on this, although we do not agree on everything when it comes to criminal justice matters. The Government have looked at all options, including whether we can reo…
7 Jul 2026 Early Release of Prisoners
I thank the shadow Justice Secretary for his opening remarks. This is a profoundly serious matter for all Members in this place, victims across the country—including those here in the Gallery—and indeed all members the public. Confidenc…
1 Jul 2026 Draft Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid: Anti-social Behaviour and Prevention and Investigation Measures) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026
I am grateful for hon. Members’ contributions. I appreciate the uncharacteristically constructive tone from the official Opposition—there was a party-political barb in there, but none the less, it was a welcome contribution. I greatly resp…
1 Jul 2026 Draft Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid: Anti-social Behaviour and Prevention and Investigation Measures) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026
That is certainly something we can look into. As my hon. Friend knows from his previous life before becoming a parliamentarian, legal aid is vital for access to justice, especially for those vulnerable groups. Although we are talking about…
1 Jul 2026 Draft Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid: Anti-social Behaviour and Prevention and Investigation Measures) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026
I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Legal Aid: Anti-social Behaviour and Prevention and Investigation Measures) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2026. …
30 Jun 2026 Topical Questions
I met my hon. Friend and Sophie at the end of last year, and as a result of that meeting, we made changes to the guidance on deportation of offenders. I have not been kept updated on what has happened since then; I will meet her and Sophie…
30 Jun 2026 Topical Questions
I thank my hon. Friend for his continued championing of this cause. We regularly meet the Prison Officers’ Association and will continue to do so. Prison officers do incredible work every day, up and down the country, and we will continue …
30 Jun 2026 Topical Questions
I thank the hon. Member for her question. She raises very serious points. I am, of course, happy to meet her, and her constituent. We are determined to bring down the number of foreign national offenders in our prisons. We need to do that …
30 Jun 2026 Topical Questions
I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. My thoughts are of course with the family of Phillip Tetley, and with Eve in particular. I know that stretch of road very well, as it is on my commute to Retford station, and I am very hap…
Source: contributions on parliament.uk.
Full parliamentary career
Committee memberships
- Home Affairs Committee 21 Oct 2024 – 27 Oct 2025
- Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 15 Jan 2025 – 25 Mar 2025
Expenses
Contact & offices
01909 384605
Parliamentary office
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Constituency office
39 Laughton Road, Dinnington, S25 2PN
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Jake Richards, answered from official Parliament data.
Who is Jake Richards?
Jake Richards is a Member of Parliament representing Rother Valley in the House of Commons. See Jake Richards's official Parliament profile.
Which party does Jake Richards represent?
Jake Richards sits as Labour. See Jake Richards's official Parliament profile.
Which constituency does Jake Richards represent?
Jake Richards is the Member of Parliament for Rother Valley. See Jake Richards's official Parliament profile.
How long has Jake Richards been an MP?
Jake Richards has served in the House of Commons for 2 years. See Jake Richards's official Parliament profile.
What registered interests are listed for Jake Richards?
Jake Richards has 4 entries in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. See Jake Richards's official Parliament profile.
Source: this MP's official Parliament profile. Last updated 26 Jul 2026.