Sir Nicholas Dakin (born 10 July 1955) is a British Labour politician who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

from 2010 to 2019. He was the Shadow Minister for Schools from 2015 to 2016, Shadow Deputy

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...

in 2015, and an opposition

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally ...

from 2011 to 2015 and 2016 to 2019.

Early life

Dakin grew up in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

and attended school there before studying at the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

and then

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, completing his undergraduate degree and then his PGCE respectively. He had previously trained as an accountant. He taught English in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swed ...

, in eastern Sweden, and then at

John Leggott College John Leggott College is a sixth form college on West Common Lane, in Old Brumby, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. History Technical school The earliest predecessor to the college was known as Scunthorpe Technical High School oCole Str ...

, where he became principal. While teaching at John Leggott College, he was also a local councillor for Kingsway with Lincoln Gardens and then leader of

North Lincolnshire Council North Lincolnshire Council is the local authority of North Lincolnshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It is one of fifty five unitary authorities. It provides a full ra ...

from 1997–2003. He was also the deputy chair of

Yorkshire Forward Yorkshire Forward was the regional development agency (RDA) for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of the United Kingdom. It supported the development of business in the region by encouraging public and private investment in education, skills, ...

from 2005–2007.

Parliamentary career

He was selected in October 2009 to represent the Scunthorpe constituency and won the seat in May 2010 with a majority of 2,549. Subsequently, he won in 2015 and 2017. In 2017 he won with a 52% share of the vote. Dakin has previously served on the

Education Select Committee The Education Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Education and any asso ...

and was a member of the House of Common's Procedure Committee and the Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art. In October 2011 Dakin was appointed an

Opposition Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...

under

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...

. He was then given the additional role of Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in May 2015. After

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

won the leadership of the Labour Party in September 2015, Dakin was made Shadow Minister for Schools. Dakin resigned his Shadow Cabinet position in June 2016 citing loss of confidence in the Labour leader. He supported

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...

in the failed attempt to replace

in the

2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election The 2016 Labour Party leadership election was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his approach to the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union and q ...

. In October 2016 Dakin re-joined the Opposition Whips' office. Dakin was the chair of several All-Party Parliamentary Groups ( APPGs) including: Steel and Metal Related Industries, Pancreatic Cancer, Education, Skills and Employment, and Bioethanol until his election defeat. He lost his seat to former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Councillor

Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft (born July 1985) is a British Conservative Party politician, serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Scunthorpe since 2019. Early life Mumby-Croft was born in Scunthorpe. She attended Sir John Nelthorpe School in Brig ...

in the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party receiving a landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 48 seats and won 43.6% of the popular vote ...

. Dakin was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for political service. In December 2022 he was chosen to stand again as the Labour candidate for Scunthorpe in the next General Election, due within two years.

Personal life

He married Audrey Balsom in 1979 in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. Dakin has two daughters and a son.

References

External links

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BBC Democracy Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dakin, Nic 1955 births Living people Alumni of the University of Hull Alumni of King's College London Knights Bachelor Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 Borough of North Lincolnshire Politicians awarded knighthoods People from the Borough of Charnwood People from Scunthorpe Councillors in the Borough of North Lincolnshire Schoolteachers from Lincolnshire Place of birth missing (living people)