Parliamentary career
Rodda stood as the Labour candidate in East Surrey at the 2010 general election, coming third with 9% of the vote behind the Conservative candidate Sam Gyimah and the Liberal Democrat candidate.[7]
At the 2015 general election, Rodda stood in Reading East, coming second with 33.1% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Rob Wilson.[8][9]
Rodda was elected to Parliament as MP for Reading East at the snap 2017 general election with 49% of the vote and a majority of 3,749.[10][11][12]
In January 2018, Rodda was promoted to a frontbench position in a Shadow Cabinet mini-shuffle, becoming the Shadow Minister for Local Transport.[13]
At the 2019 general election, Rodda was re-elected as MP for Reading East with a decreased vote share of 48.5% and an increased majority of 5,924.[14]
Rodda nominated Emily Thornberry for the 2020 Labour leadership election.[15]
In the first Starmer shadow cabinet, Rodda was appointed Shadow Minister for Buses.[16]
In January 2021, Rodda was appointed Shadow Minister for Pensions after Jack Dromey was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet Office after Helen Hayes resigned to abstain on the Brexit Bill. Rodda was replaced as Shadow Minister for Buses by Sam Tarry.[17] In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property.[18]
Due to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, Rodda's constituency of Reading East was abolished and replaced with Reading Central. At the 2024 general election, Rodda was elected to Parliament as MP for Reading Central with 47.7% of the vote and a majority of 12,637.[2]
