Nick Fletcher (politician)

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Nick Fletcher
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Don Valley
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byCaroline Flint
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1972-07-15) 15 July 1972 (age 52)
Armthorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseGail Fletcher[1]
Children2
Residence(s)Bawtry, South Yorkshire, England
Websitewww.nickfletcher.org.uk

Nicholas Anthony Fletcher[2] (born 15 July 1972)[3] is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley from the 2019 general election until 2024.[4] He was the only Conservative to ever be elected for the seat.

Early life and career

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Fletcher grew up in Armthorpe, Doncaster, and attended Armthorpe Comprehensive before gaining a HNC in electronic engineering in 1992. In 1994, after being made redundant, he took a business course and established Analogue Electrics in Doncaster.[5][6] Fletcher also owns a property portfolio consisting of ten residential properties.[7]

Before being elected to Parliament, Fletcher served as the director of Doncaster Chamber of Commerce (Doncaster Chamber) from 19 December 2018 to 13 December 2019.[8] He also served as the chairman of the Doncaster Conservative Federation.[9]

Fletcher is a landlord, and he owns six houses and four flats in South Yorkshire; this is the highest number of residential, letting properties held by any MP.[10]

Political positions

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Gender equality

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In his first notable media presence, as part of a debate in the UK Parliament's Westminster Hall, for International Men's Day 2021, Fletcher claimed that male role models in film and television were being replaced by women (namely Luke Skywalker, The Equalizer, Doctor Who, and The Ghostbusters), linking that to the number of young men turning to crime.[11][12][13] His apparent opposition to women playing these roles was criticised by fellow MPs (including Luke Pollard), and also condemned by social media users as sexist and misogynistic.[14]

In his defence, Fletcher claims this part of his speech was dealing with the wider issue of positive role-models for young men and that the controversy results from looking only at a short section.

Transgender issues

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In June 2022, Fletcher sent letters to all schools in his constituency urging head teachers to "push back" against the "transgender lifestyle", arguing that allowing children to take hormone blockers is "affirming something that is nothing more than a phase". The letters were not well received by Doncaster Schools, with one school reporting that the letters were "neither helpful nor positively received" [15]

Immigration

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In December 2023 Nick Fletcher was criticised for claiming that A&E waiting lists in his constituency of Don Valley were excessively long due to high levels of immigration. He said of his constituency "We are turning parts of our community into a ghetto... you have a 12 hour waiting list at A&E, & the reason why the waiting list is so long, is because people don't speak English in these places anymore”.[16] The population in Don Valley is 94% UK-born and 96% White, while English is the mother tongue of 97% of his constituents.[17] He was said by opposition members to have been echoing Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood Speech”.[16]

Parliamentary career

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Fletcher won the seat of Don Valley from Labour incumbent Caroline Flint in 2019, with a majority of 8%, representing a swing of 8.1%. In doing so, he was the first Conservative to be elected for the seat, with the constituency having been held by Labour since 1922.[18]

Fletcher delivered his maiden speech on 16 March 2020,[19] where he spoke about the importance of role models for young people.

Since 2 March 2020, Fletcher has been a member of the Petitions Committee.[20]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Fletcher was among the signatories of a letter to the Telegraph in November 2020 from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".[21]

Fletcher endorsed Kemi Badenoch during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[22] After Badenoch was eliminated, Fletcher supported Liz Truss.[23]

In February 2023 Fletcher raised conspiracy theories around the urban design concept of the "15-minute city" in the House of Commons, requesting time to discuss the matter he referred to as an "international socialist concept".[24]

In June 2023, he was one of six Conservative MPs to vote against censuring Boris Johnson following the Commons Privileges Committee investigation.[25]

Affiliations

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During his time as an member of parliament, Fletcher sat as a Vice Chair or Officer for several All-Party Parliamentary Groups, including:

He also chaired APPG on Issues Affecting Men and Boys

Fletcher is a member of the Northern Research Group, a group founded by Conservative MPs who represented constituencies in northern England, Wales and the Scottish Borders.[27][28] He was also a member of the Common Sense Group, a Parliamentary organisation which represents the socially conservative wing of the Conservative Party.[29]

Personal life

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Fletcher resides in Bawtry and is married to Gail. They have two children, James and Lucy.[30][31] He says he is a practising Christian. He described his election win as miracle performed by God, and has said publicly that "Christ is the greatest role model anyone can have."[32]

He has been a long-time runner. He ran the London Marathon in October 2021, raising over £2,000 by eliciting donations to his chosen charity, the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group.[33]

References

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  1. ^ "Our People". Analogue Electrics. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard.parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. ^ 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. 171. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  4. ^ "Don Valley parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Nick Fletcher: 'I speak how people in Doncaster speak – I need to deliver, I need to be a good MP'". Nick Fletcher. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Nicholas Fletcher MP, Don Valley". TheyWorkForYou. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  8. ^ "DONCASTER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND ENTERPRISE – Filing history (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  9. ^ "About Us". Doncaster Conservative Federation. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  10. ^ Booth, Robert (4 May 2023). "Hunt and Braverman among five in cabinet earning thousands as landlords". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Female Doctor Who robs boys of role models, claims Tory MP". BBC News. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  12. ^ Chilton, Louis (26 November 2021). "Twelve men played Doctor Who before a woman – I think young boys will cope, Nick Fletcher". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  13. ^ Walker, Peter (25 November 2021). "Recasting male heroes as women risks driving boys to crime, claims Tory MP". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  14. ^ Ball, Elliot (25 November 2021). "Luke Pollard slams MP Nick Fletcher's 'sexist' Doctor Who claim". Plymouth Herald. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  15. ^ "MP Nick Fletcher schools letter says trans 'nothing more than a phase'". BBC News. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  16. ^ a b Schofield, Kevin (13 December 2023). "Tory MP Criticised For Blaming A&E Delays On 'People Who Don't Speak English'". Yahoo News. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Office for National Statistics". 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  18. ^ "South Yorkshire seats go to Tories for first time". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Income tax (charge) – Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Petitions Committee membership agreed – News from Parliament". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Britain's heroes". Letter to the Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2022.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ Torr, George (13 July 2022). "Tory Doncaster MP Nick Fletcher backs Kemi Badenoch to become new Conservative party leader". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 13 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. ^ Wainwright, Oliver (16 February 2023). "In praise of the '15-minute city' – the mundane planning theory terrifying conspiracists". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  25. ^ Home, Conservative (20 June 2023). "The six Conservative MPs who voted against the motion to censure Johnson". Conservative Home. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Register of All-Party Parliamentary Groups" (PDF). 21 April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  27. ^ "'The NRG is nothing like the ERG' – Yorkshire Tories strike constructive tone in meeting with PM". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  28. ^ Maguire, Patrick. "Northern Research Group levels up red wall rebellion". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  29. ^ Steerpike (12 May 2021). "Tories unveil anti-woke manifesto | The Spectator". www.spectator.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Nick Fletcher: 'I speak how people in Doncaster speak – I need to deliver, I need to be a good MP'". Nick Fletcher MP. 15 February 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  31. ^ "About Nick Fletcher". Nick Fletcher. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  32. ^ "'Christ is the greatest role model:' Doncaster Conservative MP praises God on debut Commons speech". Doncaster Free Press. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  33. ^ "MP Nick to take on marathon for CCLG". www.cclg.org.uk. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Don Valley
2019–2024 		Succeeded by
Constituency abolished
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