Makerfield.

Josh Simons resigned as a minister in late February 2026 following a serious controversy over his conduct while in government. He was found to have falsely linked journalists to a pro-Kremlin network, commissioned investigations into reporters, and provided misleading information to security agencies -- prompting Keir Starmer to open a formal ethics investigation. The story attracted heavy negative coverage, with nearly 20 articles focused on his conduct averaging a sharply negative sentiment score. In March, a further dispute broke out over whether the BBC had given him unchallenged airtime to defend his actions without hearing from those affected.

Since resigning, Simons has returned to the backbenches but has not yet registered a speech -- his last contribution on record was in early February, before the controversy peaked. His participation rate of 65% sits below the Commons average. On votes, he has backed the government on every occasion, including supporting the rejection of Lords amendments to the Victims and Courts Bill that would have expanded victims' rights -- putting him at odds with crossbench and opposition peers who backed those changes. His stance profile shows particularly low alignment with parliamentary scrutiny and pension protection measures, and he trails the Labour average on criminal justice reform, armed forces welfare and local democracy votes.

The clearest bright spot is local infrastructure: Simons is directly credited with securing £153m for a long-stalled link road between the M6 and M61, with the government explicitly acknowledging his sustained lobbying. His speech record before the resignation focused on the economy, technology and cost of living. No committee roles are currently recorded. The picture overall is of an MP navigating significant reputational damage while pointing to one concrete constituency win.