Nicola Richards

Nicola Richards
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for West Bromwich East
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byTom Watson
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Nicola Faye Richards

(1994-12-19) 19 December 1994 (age 30)
Dudley, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Jon Smith
​
(m. 2022)​
EducationThe Kingswinford School
King Edward VI College, Stourbridge
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham

Nicola Faye Richards (born 19 December 1994) is a British politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich East from 2019 to 2024. She is a member of the Conservative Party. Prior to her parliamentary career, Richards was a councillor. Her constituency was abolished at the 2024 general election.

Early life and career

Nicola Richards was born on 19 December 1994 and grew up in Dudley.[1][2][3] She attended The Kingswinford School in Kingswinford.[4] and later King Edward VI College, Stourbridge for sixth form.[5] Richards studied politics at the University of Birmingham, graduating with an upper second class degree in 2016. While at university, she was a caseworker for Dudley South MP Chris Kelly, and later for his successor Mike Wood.[6][7]

After university, Richards worked as a communications officer for Stourbridge MP Margot James.[6] Richards then worked in public relations for the Jewish Leadership Council, and the Holocaust Educational Trust.[8] Before being elected to Parliament, Richards worked for Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street as a content creator.[9]

Richards was elected as a Conservative councillor for Kingswinford North and Wall Heath on the Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in 2015, and was re-elected in 2019.[10][11] She was the chair of the local Young Conservatives group and a vice-chair of the Dudley South Conservative Association.[9] Richards supported Brexit in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum and campaigned with Vote Leave.[12]

Parliamentary career

At the 2019 general election, Richards was elected to Parliament as MP for West Bromwich East, winning with 46.7% of the vote and a majority of 1,593.[13]

She was a member of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union from March 2020 to January 2021, the Women and Equalities Committee from March 2020 to November 2021 and the Education Select Committee from September 2021 to March 2022.[14]

Richards is a supporter of transgender rights. In August 2020, she co-authored an article in ConservativeHome with fellow MP Alicia Kearns, which called on the government to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004.[15][16]

She served on the 1922 Committee between November 2020 and September 2021.[17] She was a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department of Transport between September 2021 and July 2022.[18][19] Richards resigned as PPS on 5 July 2022 in protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson's leadership over his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.[20][21]

Richards endorsed Penny Mordaunt during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[22] After Mordaunt was eliminated, Richards backed Liz Truss.[23] In September 2022, she was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Mordaunt when she became the Leader of the House of Commons.[24]

She became co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism in December 2022.[25] As part of this role, she criticised GB News for allowing presenter Neil Oliver to "indulge conspiracy theories" that risk spreading antisemitic tropes in February 2023.[26]

In May 2024, it was confirmed that Richards had been shortlisted to be the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Solihull West and Shirley; she later lost the selection vote, coming second to Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst.[27]

She continues to serve as Vice Chair of the International Young Democrat Union (IYDU), a global alliance of centre-right political youth organisations.

Personal life

Richards married Jon Smith at St Mary and St Bartholomew Church, in Hampton in Arden, near Solihull, in December 2022.[28] She was a trustee of the Albion Foundation, the charity arm of the football club West Bromwich Albion until 2024.[29]

References

  1. ^ "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  2. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Nicola Richards – West Bromwich East". Sandwell Conservatives. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  4. ^ Holder, Bev (20 May 2015). "Mike Wood makes The Kingswinford School his first stop-off after becoming Dudley South's new MP". Hereford Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Nicola Richards MP". LinkedIn. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Nicola Richards: Who is the UK's new youngest MP?". Sky News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Nicola Richards". Jewish Leadership Council. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  8. ^ Roberts, Lizzie (17 December 2019). "10 under 30: meet the new fresh faced MPs arriving in Parliament for the first time". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.(subscription required)
  9. ^ a b Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Results of Elections". Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. ^ Coussins, Jordan (3 May 2019). "Dudley Council local elections 2019: Labour and Conservative battle ends in tie". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. ^ Madeley, Peter (29 November 2019). "Tories aiming to turn West Bromwich blue for the first time ever". Express and Star. Archived from the original on 20 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  13. ^ "West Bromwich East Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Parliamentary career for Nicola Richards – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  15. ^ Richards, Nicola; Kearns, Alicia (27 August 2020). "Conservatives believe in freedom and choice. That's why we should reform the Gender Recognition Act". Conservative Home. Archived from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  16. ^ Maguire, Patrick (28 August 2020). "New Tory MPs demand reform to Gender Recognition Act". The Times. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022.(subscription required)
  17. ^ Letts, Quentin (25 January 2022). "Your essential guide to who's who in the 1922 Committee". The Times.(subscription required)
  18. ^ "List of PPSs" (PDF). gov.uk. April 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Meet the political stars of tomorrow, as Boris Johnson appoints Midland MPs to junior jobs". Birmingham Mail. 23 September 2021. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  20. ^ @Nicola4WBE (5 July 2022). "I will always remain loyal to my constituents and the Conservative Party. Tonight I've made the tough decision to resign as a PPS" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 July 2022 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Brassington, Jamie (5 July 2022). "West Bromwich MP takes 'tough decision' resigns from Boris Johnson's government". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  22. ^ Madeley, Peter (8 July 2022). "Nicola Richards MP backs Brexiteer Penny Mordaunt to succeed Boris". Express & Star. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Next Tory Leader. Which MP is backing whom – the updated list. Truss on 149, Sunak on 132. The Foreign Secretary's lead amongst MPs grows". ConservativeHome. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Black Country MP appointed as assistant to Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt". Express & Star. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups [as at 11 January 2023]". 11 January 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  26. ^ Walker, Peter (8 February 2023). "Jewish group and MPs urge GB News to stop indulging conspiracy theories". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  27. ^ Michael Crick [@TomorrowsMPs] (31 May 2024). "Conservative shortlist for Solihull West and Shirley" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 June 2024 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Black Country MP Nicola say's 'I do' in Christmas holiday wedding". Express & Star. 29 December 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  29. ^ "Meet The Team". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for West Bromwich East
2019–2024 		Constituency abolished