Richard Holden was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport on 28 October 2022in England, replacing previous holder Baroness Vere who remains in post with altered responsibilities for aviation and maritime.

He was elected as the MP for North West Durham in 2019.  Richard served on the Public Accounts Committee from 2019-2021 and on the European Statutory Instruments Committee until his appointment. He has been part of UK parliamentary delegations to international bodies for democracy, such as the Council of Europe and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was a parliamentary private secretary to DCMS, then briefly at DfT and DIT.