Nicola Blackwood

Nicola Blackwood MP
Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Evan Harris
Majority	176 (0.3%)
Personal details
Born	(1979-10-16) 16 October 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	St Anne's College, Oxford and Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Religion	Church of England
Website	nicolablackwood.com

Nicola Claire Blackwood^[1] (born 16 October 1979,^[2]) is a Conservative Party politician. She was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon in the 2010 election.

Political career

Blackwood was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon at an open primary on 13 November 2006.^[3] The seat had been held by the Conservatives since creation in 1983 until 1997, when it was won by Dr. Evan Harris for the Liberal Democrats. He held the seat comfortably in 2001 and 2005. Boundary changes reduced Liberal Democrat support, with 8,000 students moved to the Oxford East constituency and more rural voters added.^[4] Blackwood won the seat at the 2010 general election by 176 votes on a 6.9% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservative party.

In late 2010, Blackwood was elected to serve on the Home Affairs Select Committee and is secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development.^[5] Before her election to parliament, Blackwood worked as a volunteer on human rights and aid projects in the Middle East, Mozambique, Rwanda and Bangladesh, and has also worked as a volunteer among the disadvantaged in Birmingham and Blackpool. Prior to running for office, Blackwood worked with the Conservative Party Human Rights Group which was set up to find ways for the UK to combat human rights abuses in places like Burma and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and as an adviser to the then Shadow International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell. She is a member of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission,^[6] as well as holding a position on the Council of Advisors for ZANE, a charity which seeks to support pensioners in Zimbabwe.^[7]

Blackwood voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in 2013 after intimating to students that she would support the measure, leading to condemnation from the student body of the University of Oxford.^[8]

In 2013, Nicola was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister for Skills & Enterprise, Matthew Hancock MP.

Personal life

Blackwood was born in 1979 in Johannesburg but raised in Oxford after her family returned to the United Kingdom two months after her birth.^[9] She trained as a classical singer at Trinity College of Music from the age of 14. She was home schooled for her GCSEs and A-Levels, during which time she suffered serious illness.^[6] Blackwood went to St Anne's College, Oxford where she obtained a First in music, and later obtained an M.Phil. in musicology from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. She has been a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship since 2005, and attends the Church of England St Aldate's Church in Oxford.^[7]

References

External links

• Nicola Blackwood website

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou