Charlotte Louise Nichols (born 5 April 1991) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Warrington North since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Early life and education

Charlotte Nichols was born on 5 April 1991 in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, and grew up in

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. She has three sisters and three step-siblings. Her father Ged Nichols is from

Kirkby Kirkby ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, Historic counties of England, historically in Lancashire, has a size of is north of Huyton and north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 wa ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

and is the General Secretary of the financial services trade union

Accord Accord may refer to: Businesses and products * Honda Accord, a car manufactured by the Honda Motor Company * Accord (cigarette), a brand of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges * Accord (company), a former public services provider in south England * Accord ...

. He was appointed as the

president of the Trades Union Congress The president of the Trades Union Congress is a prominent but largely honorary position in United Kingdom, British trade unionism. History Initially, the post of president was elected at the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) itself, and would serv ...

in 2020. Her mother is from East London. Nichols became interested in politics at a young age: she said in an interview that she was obsessed with

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

Betty Boothroyd Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency), West Bromwich an ...

, and the Speaker's shouts of "Order". As a teenager, Nichols had one of her earliest experiences of politics when she helped run after-school

UK Youth Parliament The UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, consisting of democratically elected members aged between 11 and 18. Formed in 2000, the parliament has 395 members, who are elected to represent the views of you ...

activities with future

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

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

. Nichols studied politics at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

, graduating in 2013.

Career

After graduation, Nichols worked in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

for five years for the

Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of over 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wor ...

, supporting logistics workers from

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

employed at

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

(now Evri), Yodel and XPO, Inc. with pay and conditions negotiations. Nichols then went on to work for the GMB trade union as a national research and policy officer, where she campaigned for better term and conditions for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

workers. While working for GMB, Nichols made the case for Government to invest in low-carbon nuclear technology. Nichols supported

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

in both the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Labour Party leadership elections.

Parliamentary career

Nichols was elected to Parliament at the 2019 general election as the Labour Party MP for Warrington North with 44.2% of the vote and a majority of 1,509 votes. In the

Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 12 September 2015; the election was triggered by Ed Miliband's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at th ...

, Nichols served as the PPS to Tracy Brabin as

Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport The shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport (DCMS), previously the shadow secretary of state for national heritage and shadow secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, is a position in the Official Opposition Shad ...

for a brief period, before being moved in the Shadow Cabinet of Sir Keir Starmer to being PPS to

Emily Thornberry Dame Emily Anne Thornberry, Lady Nugee (born 27 July 1960), is a British Labour politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005. She served as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales from ...

as Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade. Nichols supported Rebecca Long-Bailey in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, but nominated

to broaden the field of candidates. When

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019, 2024), for which she won the B ...

was promoted to Shadow Air Qualities Minister, Nichols replaced her as PPS to

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary The shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland is a member of the British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the secretary of state for Northern Ireland and their department, the Northern Ireland Office. The post is held by Alex ...

Louise Haigh Louise Margaret Haigh () is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliam ...

. On 12 November 2020, Nichols was appointed

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities The shadow minister for women and equalities (previously shadow minister for women, shadow minister for women and equality, shadow secretary of state for women and equalities) is a position in the United Kingdom's Official Opposition (United Kin ...

. She stepped down from this role in September 2021, coinciding with the resignation of the Shadow Secretary of State

Marsha de Cordova Marsha Chantal de Cordova (born 23 January 1976) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Battersea since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she was a Member of Lambeth London Borough Council from 2014 to 2018. Since 202 ...

, citing personal reasons. At the 2024 general election, Nichols was re-elected to Parliament as MP for Warrington North with an increased vote share of 46.8% and an increased majority of 9,190.

Controversies

Prior to the December 2019 general election, Nichols authored an article on the website

LabourList LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...

defending Jeremy Corbyn's attendance at a

Passover Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...

organised by Jewdas. The event was later criticised in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' after allegations surfaced that attendees had chanted slogans such as "fuck the police" and "fuck the armies". In October 2019, Nichols tweeted that supporters of the football club

SS Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club'') is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its Football club (association football), football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent most of their hist ...

, filmed making Nazi salutes in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, should "get their heads kicked in." Defending her comments in December of the same year, Nichols stated, "These were people doing

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

salutes on the streets of Britain... As a Jewish person whose grandfather fought in World War Two, ultimately sometimes I believe that fascism has to be physically confronted." An article published in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' in 2019 reported that Nichols had described members of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

as "bourgeois scab fucks" and told one Twitter user, "Hope you lose your virginity". In April 2021, Nichols apologised to the Traveller communities after she distributed a local election leaflet which pledged to deal with "Traveller incursions". The leaflet had been circulated in the Orford ward of her constituency during the 2021 local elections, in response to encampments on the nearby Poole Park. Nichols apologised and issued a statement, saying: “I have spoken to the local Labour party, the leaflet has been withdrawn and the leaflet will be destroyed. I regret that this leaflet has been distributed in the town. The leaflet is not in line with my personal values or those of the Labour party." Nichols pledged to be "an ally" to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community.

Personal life

Charlotte Nichols grew up in a predominantly secular Catholic family with some Irish heritage. At the age of 22, she began attending weekly services at the Manchester Reform Synagogue, describing the experience as bringing her a sense of peace she had not previously felt. She converted to Judaism in 2014 and celebrated her

bat mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they a ...

on her 27th birthday. Since her conversion, Nichols has faced ongoing abuse, including incidents of antisemitism. During the 2021 Warrington Borough Council election, a Conservative Party council candidate sent her a message on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

stating, "Keep the Aryan race going". In 2021, Nichols disclosed that she has post-traumatic stress disorder. She had to cut short a parliamentary visit to Gibraltar following a mental health episode. That same year, she was identified as one of the top five backbench MPs receiving abusive and toxic tweets, according to a BBC investigation. Nichols has spoken publicly about the threats of violence and abusive messages she has received. In a 2021 interview, Nichols stated that she identifies as

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Charlotte Living people 21st-century British women politicians 21st-century converts to Judaism Alumni of the University of Liverpool Bisexual women politicians British Reform Jews Converts to Reform Judaism English anti-fascists Trade unionists from Greater Manchester Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Jewish anti-fascists Jewish British politicians Jewish women politicians Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Bisexual Jews LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom English bisexual politicians British bisexual women Politicians from Reading, Berkshire People from Romford Politicians from the London Borough of Havering UK MPs 2019–2024 British women trade unionists 1991 births 21st-century English women 21st-century English LGBTQ people UK MPs 2024–present Jewish LGBTQ women