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Labour MP Josh Simons to lead digital ID scheme
Cabinet Office parliamentary secretary Josh Simons to become digital ID minister as government prepares to launch public consultation on the scheme
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has appointed Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons as minister for the digital identity scheme.
Simons will, according to reports by The Financial Times, be named minister for digital reform.
As part of his remit, he will lead the development of the controversial programme, including the public consultation, due to launch later in January 2026.
The digital ID scheme was announced by the prime minister in September 2025, and came as a surprise to many, both because there had been no indication of such plans and because it did not feature in the Labour manifesto ahead of the election.
The Cabinet Office took over responsibility for the digital identity programme, which was previously held by the Government Digital Service (GDS) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), in October 2025.
In a ministerial statement at the time, Starmer said that to “deliver this cross-government priority”, the Cabinet Office will now be in charge of the scheme, “including policy, development, legislation and strategic oversight”.
Chief secretary Darren Jones has been leading the scheme so far, but Simons has been the responsible junior minister for digital identity, and acted as spokesperson in parliamentary questions and debates.
Read more about government and digital ID
- MPs brand the government’s digital ID plans ‘un-British’ and ‘an attack on civil liberties’ during debate on the controversial policy.
- Amid an economic crisis, public scepticism and confusing messages, could the government’s digital identity programme fail before it even gets off the ground?
- Prime minister Keir Starmer announces Cabinet Office will take over responsibility for the government’s digital identity scheme.
During a parliamentary debate on the scheme in December 2025, following an e-petition on digital ID calling on government to stop their plans – which received more than three million signatures – Simons vehemently defended the programme.
He said he is “proud that we are building this vital public good for our country, not outsourcing it and not leaving it to private companies. Done right, it can leave a legacy of which we will be proud in the years ahead.”
Simons has introduced three core principles to the programme, ensuring it is inclusive, secure and useful. The public consultation will include an inclusion drive to ensure no one is left behind, he added.
“I want to build a credential that our constituents want to have because having it makes their lives easier,” Simons said during the debate. “In our economy and our society, technology has dramatically improved how we go about our daily life.
“I want government to have the tools to move at the same pace. Whether it is applying for a new passport, accessing support for your children or proving who you are for a job, the state should be working as hard as possible to make these things easy for you, not making you do the hard work.”
In response to the allegations that the system would be easily hacked and that the data would not be safe, Simons said the government is “not creating a centralised master database”.
“The new system will be federated,” he said. “Specifically, that means that there will be strict legal firewalls on what information can be shared where and a strong principle of data minimisation. People will have more control over their data in this system than they have now, because people will be able to actively control what information is shared about them and by whom.”
