About Nicola

Nicola was born in 1979 in Johannesburg but her family returned to Oxford just two months later after her father had angered the Apartheid government by speaking up for the rights of the black community. In fact, her lifelong connection with Oxford began before she was born - her parents met at the Radcliffe Infirmary and both worked for the Oxfordshire NHS for many years. Her father is still teaching medical students at the John Radcliffe. Nicola now lives in Summertown and is a Governor at her local special school and recently been trained as a Domestic Violence Champion.  Nicola was elected Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon in 2010.

Nicola's Experience

Nicola was trained as a classical singer at Trinity College of Music from the age of 14 (and home schooled for her GCSE's and A-Levels in Oxford) before gaining a First in Music at St Anne's College and an M.Phil. in Musicology from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Nicola worked as a Parliamentary Researcher for Andrew Mitchell MP, the Secretary of State for International Development, and spent part of a gap year volunteering with aid projects which led to a role advising the Conservative International Development team. Since then she has volunteered with international aid projects in Mozambique, Rwanda, Bangladesh and those social action projects closer to home in Birmingham and Blackpool. Nicola was elected to Parliament in 2010 and almost immediately appointed the Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Social Action. 

Nicola has also been actively been involved in the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, as its Vice Chair, which was set up to find ways for the UK to combat human rights abuses in places like Burma and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  In Parliament she is an active member of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee, which has recently been looking into drugs policy, the US-UK extradition treaty and Private Investigators in the wake of the Phone Hacking scandal.  Nicola is also Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Women, Peace and Security, which was instrumental in renewal of the UK’s National Action Plan for the implementation of 1325 (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/global-issues/women-peace-security/national-action-plan) and continues to have a strong role in its oversight.  Nicola is also Vice Chairman of APPG Great Lakes and visited the DRC in this capacity in 2011

Serving Oxford West and Abingdon

Nicola's constituency interests have been centred on her busy constituency workload, taking a keen interest in the development of public services in a growing county, countryside issues affecting villages and small towns, regional planning and transport. Social division, urban regeneration and overseas development are also high on her agenda.  Nicola has campaigned extensively to keep Post Offices and local services open and to protect communities from the effects of inappropriate development in terms of both services and flood risk. She also takes a very active interest in issues regarding carers, rural broadband provision and transport. She is a keen civil libertarian and sees giving the responsibility back to the frontline professionals as the key to reform in the public services. She is very proud to have been elected as the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon in order to represent the interests of her constituents and the issues that arise.