Labour Party MP for Suffolk Coastal.
Jenny Riddell-Carpenter's most visible work has been a sustained school road safety campaign that began with a constituent child's letter to Downing Street and escalated into a private member's bill, a PMQs exchange with the Prime Minister, and a commitment to install a school crossing. She has also co-led the Labour Rural Research Group, publishing research on rural challenges and arguing publicly that rural areas must be central to Labour's economic agenda — a natural fit for a Suffolk Coastal MP but a deliberate positioning move within the parliamentary party.
At 79% voting participation she sits below the Commons average, though her 99.8% party-line record makes her one of Labour's more loyal new MPs. Her stance profile shows consistent support for workers' rights and progressive taxation, while she scores unusually low on pro-business, civil liberties, and parliamentary scrutiny measures — all in line with the Labour whip. She deviates from her Labour colleagues notably on assisted dying (more supportive than average) and energy security (more supportive), and her one confirmed rebel vote was backing a devolution-focused amendment to the Terminally Ill Adults Bill in June 2025. She speaks most frequently on economy and jobs, local government, environment, and health.
Her membership of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee gives her a formal platform for the agricultural and rural issues that dominate her public profile. Recent local news coverage spans culture, cost of living, and crime, though sentiment scores close to neutral suggest no significant controversy. Voting data beyond mid-2026 is not yet available, and debate excerpts are missing for some recent votes, limiting precise analysis of her positions on energy and vehicle taxation.
Jenny Riddell-Carpenter is the Labour MP for Suffolk Coastal, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024.
Top eight by total divisions voted, this parliament. Volume measures engagement, not direction — see Notable Votes for free-vote moments and rebellions.
Source · The Public Whip · Hansard
Moments where the whip was free, or where Riddell-Carpenter broke ranks. Free votes are the truer signal of personal stance.
| Date | Bill / motion | Vote | Whip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Jun 2025 | Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: New Clause 2 | Yes | Freevs party |
Source · Hansard
“Communities hosting nationally significant energy infrastructure deserve substantial, lasting benefits beyond minimum guidance thresholds; current arrangements are inadequate, frag…”
“Supporting expansion of rural exception sites as solution to loss of social housing stock in market towns.”
“Coastal erosion is a human, housing, and mental health crisis requiring long-term national strategy, mandatory erosion disclosure in property sales, a Flood Re-equivalent for coast…”
“Proposes a statutory levy on energy developers to fund coordinated planning and mitigation of cumulative impacts from multiple infrastructure projects, with ringfenced local commun…”
Select, joint and other committees Riddell-Carpenter currently sits on. Committee work is where much of the line-by-line scrutiny of bills and departments happens, away from the chamber.
| Committee | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|
| City of London (Markets) Bill | Member | Select |
| Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee | Member | Select |
Source · UK Parliament Committees API
Committee seats are where backbenchers shape legislation and hold departments to account. Riddell-Carpenter sits on 2.
| Department | Qs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Social Care | 32 | 17.1% |
| Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 30 | 16.0% |
| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 25 | 13.4% |
| Home Office | 19 | 10.2% |
| Department for Education | 14 | 7.5% |
| Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | 13 | 7.0% |
| Treasury | 13 | 7.0% |
| Department for Transport | 10 | 5.3% |
?To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the accuracy of reported 5G coverage in rural areas.
Accurate mobile coverage reporting is essential to consumer choice, investment and policy development.Ofcom is responsible for mobile coverage reporting for the UK. Government recognises that there are discrepancies in some cases between th…read full →
Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make membership of a New Homes Ombudsman mandatory for housing developers.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 102928 on 13 January 2026.
Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Rural Payments Agency plans to introduce an interim solution allow common land to enter (a) Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier and (b) the Sustainable Farming Incentive, p
Common land and shared grazing are, in theory, eligible for both the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) and Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) schemes. For technical reasons, commons groups will not be able to apply for SFI on comm…read full →
Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to put in place a mechanism that would allow common land to be entered into Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreements for 2026.
Defra recognises the important role that common land and its commoners play in delivering environmental outcomes across these important and iconic landscapes. The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is currently assessing how applications on common…read full →
Kevin Craig £5,000 to support Suffolk Coastal Constituency Labour Party activities. |
Countryside Alliance 17 December 2025 to 24 December 2025 |
Susan Clare Parsons 23 February 2026 to 22 August 2026 |
Anthony Trevor Langham 23 February 2026 to 22 August 2026 |
Susan Clare Parsons 4 August 2025 to 3 February 2026 |
Source · Members API · Last amended 29 Apr 2026
| Category | £ | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Staffing | 130,675 | 73.6% |
| Office Costs | 30,222 | 17.0% |
| Accommodation | 11,378 | 6.4% |
| Staff Travel | 2,949 | 1.7% |
| MP Travel | 2,253 | 1.3% |
| Total · 216 claims | 177,477 | 100% |
Source · IPSA · FY 24_25
| Date | Item | Type | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 16 Jul | Topical slot — question of Riddell-Carpenter’s choice on the day. | Topical | Transport |
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Share | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Suffolk Coastal | 15,672 | 31.7% | Won |
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jenny Riddell-CarpenterWON | Lab | 15,672 | 31.7 |
Showing the MP’s own row only. Full result table: see Suffolk Coastal →