Mike Reader.

Mike Reader's clearest parliamentary moment came in June 2025, when he voted against his own party at Third Reading to reject the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — the legislation that would allow assisted dying for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. He also backed tighter safeguards during the bill's passage, supporting amendments that would have barred applications driven by fear of being a burden, mental disorder, or financial pressures. Those rebel votes place him among the more cautious wing of Labour on assisted dying: his voting pattern on the issue sits 21 percentage points above the Labour average in opposition to the bill, and 25 points below the party average on supporting access to it.

Beyond assisted dying, Reader is a broadly loyal backbencher — a 97% party-line voter — who shows up in the chamber at 73% of votes, modestly below the Commons average. His speeches skew heavily toward economic and local issues: jobs, local government, housing, environment, and energy dominate his 120 contributions across 72 debates. His stance scores reflect a strong worker-rights and housing-development record, while sitting well below party norms on civil liberties and parliamentary scrutiny. He sits on the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, which helps explain the volume of energy-related contributions.

In local terms, Reader has had a mixed period in the press. He secured a new Urgent Treatment Centre for Northampton and has raised children's online safety — including a Downing Street meeting — to positive local coverage. A Mirror report from August 2025 attracted criticism after he was spotted using ChatGPT on a train to draft constituent replies, with parliamentary guidance discouraging the practice. News sentiment over the past 90 days is broadly neutral across 15 articles.