Selected to contest the
Northampton South seat in March 2023, Reader took a sabbatical from his job at Mace during the 2024 general election campaign; he said he expected to leave Mace if he was elected. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 5 September 2024. Mike was sponsored by
Labour Friends of Israel to visit
Israel in March 2024. On 27 November 2024, Reader was elected as the new chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure. On 19 August 2025, it was reported by the
Daily Mirror that Reader had used the artificial intelligence (AI) application
ChatGPT to respond to letters from constituents. Reader responded by saying he “takes his responsibilities seriously when it comes to handling his constituents' data.” == References ==