Reading Labour MP secures new job role in Parliament

Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central. Credit: Office of Matt Rodda MP
Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central. Credit: Office of Matt Rodda MP
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The most senior serving MP in Reading has landed a new role in the Houses of Parliament.

Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading Central, was appointed to an assistant role to the leader of the House of Lords on Monday, July 27.

He said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Baroness Angela Smith, the Leader of the House of Lords.”

Mr Rodda will serve as an unpaid assistant, supporting parliamentary duties and communication between the frontbench and backbench MPs and Lords.

Mrs Smith has been the Leader of the House of Lords since July 2024.

The biggest reform of her tenure has been the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026, which officially ended the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in Parliament.

The Lords have also delayed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which failed to pass Parliament in April after a minority of peers submitted more than 1,200 proposed amendments.

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