Nicola Blackwood

Nicola Blackwood
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health & Innovation
In office
14 July 2016 – 9 June 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May
Preceded by Ben Gummer
Succeeded by Jackie Doyle-Price
Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee
In office
18 June 2015 – 14 July 2016
Preceded by Andrew Miller
Succeeded by Stephen Metcalfe
Member of Parliament
for Oxford West and Abingdon
In office
6 May 2010 – 7 June 2017
Preceded by Evan Harris
Succeeded by Layla Moran
Personal details
Born (1979-10-16) 16 October 1979
Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Alma mater St Anne's College, Oxford
Somerville College, Oxford
Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Nicola Claire Blackwood[1] (born 16 October 1979) is a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon who was also Chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee during the second Cameron ministry and as a junior health minister during the first May ministry.

She was elected at the 2010 election with a majority of 176 defeating the Liberal Democrats who held the seat since 1997. She lost her seat in the 2017 election to the Liberal Democrats who won it back with a majority of 816.[2]

Parliamentary career

Blackwood was chosen as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon at an open primary on 13 November 2006.[3] Boundary changes which came into effect in 2010 were thought to have favoured the Conservatives, with some 8,000 urban voters (including many students) being moved into 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 to the Conservatives from the Liberal Democrats. In late 2010, she was elected to serve on the Home Affairs Select Committee and was secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development. She was a member of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission,[5] as well as holding a position on the Council of Advisors for ZANE, a charity which seeks to support pensioners in Zimbabwe.[6]

Blackwood voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in 2013 after indicating to many students and constituents that she would support the measure, for which she was criticised by Oxford University Student Union.[7] Blackwood said she had voted against the final draft of the Bill because she was not satisfied with the protection afforded religious freedoms.

At the 2015 general election, Blackwood retained her seat with a majority of 9,582 [8] which was in part due to the national swing of voters against the Liberal Democrats.[9] Blackwood's biggest donor in the lead up to the 2015 election was a Housing Company called Countrywide Developments Limited,[10] controlled by AC Gallagher who was also Director of Gallagher Estates No1 Limited. Countrywide Developments made two donations of £10,000 to Blackwood, one in July 2014 and the other in March 2015.[11]

In 2015, student activists criticised Blackwood for her support of fox hunting and she later confirmed pro-hunting group Vote-OK assisted with her election campaign during the 2015 General Election.[12][13] In June 2015, Blackwood was elected to the chairmanship of the Science & Technology Select Committee.[14] She was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (PUS) at the Department of Health from July 2016–May 2017. In the 2017 general election, she lost her seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate Layla Moran who won with a majority of 816.[2] She has chaired the Human Tissue Authority since March 2018.[15]

Personal life

Blackwood has been a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship since 2005 and is a regular worshipper at the Church of England's St Aldate's in Oxford.[6]

In March 2015, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with the genetic condition Ehlers–Danlos syndrome in 2013 and had later been diagnosed with the associated secondary condition of Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which causes chronic migraines for which she is treated by having 32 injections in the head every 10–12 weeks.[16] She also stated that her medical conditions had not affected her performance as a member of parliament.[16]

Blackwood married Paul Bate, Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Portfolio Manager at Matterhorn Investment Management LLP, in September 2016 at Merton College, Oxford.[17] Bate, a member of Oxford's Vincent's Club,[18] studied physics at Merton College (class of 1977) before doing an engineering and business MBA at Stanford (class of 1995).[19] Blackwood studied music at St Anne's College, Oxford (class of 2000) and Somerville College, Oxford, and later studied for an MPhil in Musicology at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.[20][21] The couple now live near Wootton, Oxfordshire.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8744.
  2. 1 2 "Election results 2017: Lib Dems gain Oxford West and Abingdon". BBC News. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
  3. ↑ "ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Oxford West and Abingdon open primary". conservativehome.blogs.com.
  4. ↑ "Tory topples Evan Harris". The Oxford Times.
  5. ↑ Oxford City Conservatives — Nicola Blackwood Archived 1 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. 1 2 "Profile of Nicola Blackwood". 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.
  7. ↑ Gerretsen, Isabelle (23 May 2013). "Anger as Oxford MP votes against gay marriage". Cherwell.
  8. ↑ "Oxford West & Abingdon parliamentary constituency – Election 2015". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  9. ↑ Huffington Post, Josh Jacobs. "Why Did 27 Lib Dem Seats Swing to the Conservatives?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "COUNTYWIDE DEVELOPMENTS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  11. ↑ "TheyWorkForYou". TheyWorkForYou.
  12. ↑ The Herald. "Nicola Blackwood's campaign being helped by pro-hunting group volunteers". The Herald. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Mintz, Luke (24 April 2015). "Oxford West MP under fire for fox hunting stance". The Oxford Student.
  14. ↑ "Winning candidates for select committee Chairs announced". UK Parliament. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "Biographies: Nicola Blackwood". Human Tissue Authority. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  16. 1 2 Rodgers, Keeley (31 March 2015). "Nicola Blackwood: I'm battling a genetic mobility condition EhlersDanlos". Oxford Mail.
  17. 1 2 Oxford Times. "Nicola Blackwood MP becomes Mrs as she weds in classical ceremony at Merton College".
  18. ↑ Vincents Oxford. "Vincent's Club Members' Register" (PDF). Vincents.
  19. ↑ Relationship Science. "Paul W. Bate, Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Portfolio Manager at Matterhorn Investment Management LLP - Relationship Science".
  20. ↑ St Anne's College. "St Anne's Alumnae Elected to Parliament".
  21. ↑ Somerville College, Oxford. "Four Somervillian MPs appointed to new roles in Cabinet reshuffle".
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Evan Harris		 Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon
2010–2017		 Succeeded by
Layla Moran
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