1. Nick Brown represented the Labour Party until his resignation in 2023.
29 Facts About Nick Brown
1. 2.
Nick Brown attended Cabinet as Government Chief Whip from 1997 until 1998 and again from 2008 until 2010, and as Agriculture Minister from 1998 to 2001.
3.
Nick Brown held the position of Regional Minister for the North East between 2007 and 2010.
4.
Nicholas Hugh Nick Brown was born in Hawkhurst, Kent, and brought up in Tunbridge Wells.
5.
Nick Brown then became a legal adviser to the Northern Region of the GMBATU, later GMB, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
6.
In 1980, Nick Brown was elected to Newcastle City Council as a Labour councillor, representing the Walker ward.
7.
Nick Brown was chosen as the new Labour Party candidate for the parliamentary seat after Mike Thomas, the Labour Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne East, defected to the SDP.
8.
Nick Brown easily retained the seat for Labour at the 1983 general election.
9.
Nick Brown was first appointed to Labour's frontbench team in 1985 as a shadow solicitor general.
10.
In 1995, Nick Brown was appointed as Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons and played a central role in Parliament in trying to defeat the Conservative government's parliamentary agenda.
11.
Nick Brown's handling of the outbreak was criticised by some and used to attack the government, though his handling of the crisis maintained the support of the farming and food industries and the veterinary profession throughout the crisis.
12.
In 2009, Nick Brown was appointed to investigate the legitimacy of expense claims by Labour MPs between 2004 and 2008.
13.
On 29 September 2010, newly elected Labour Party leader Ed Miliband asked Nick Brown to stand down as Chief Whip due to the need for a "break from the past".
14.
On 29 January 2011, during the News of the World phone hacking affair, Nick Brown said that his landline may have been bugged in 1998, around the time of his being outed.
15.
Nick Brown was contacted by an undisclosed police force in the West of England in 2003, who told him that they were pursuing a phone-tapping prosecution and he was one of those who may have been targeted.
16.
In 2014, Nick Brown publicly opposed his party's proposal to scrap the position of Police and Crime Commissioner, citing the effectiveness of the three PCCs in North East England at the time.
17.
Ahead of the 2016 EU membership referendum, Nick Brown stated he supported remaining in the European Union.
18.
On 6 October 2016, Nick Brown was reappointed as Labour Chief Whip by Jeremy Corbyn, and thus became Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Commons.
19.
Nick Brown was again reappointed as Labour Chief Whip by Sir Keir Starmer after the latter's victory in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.
20.
Nick Brown left the role of Chief Whip for the third time as a result of Starmer's Shadow Cabinet reshuffle in May 2021.
21.
On 26 May 2021, Nick Brown returned as chair of the Finance Committee.
22.
In September 2022, Nick Brown was suspended from the Labour Party following allegations concerning an event 25 years previously, details of which were not made public.
23.
Nick Brown announced that he would not be contesting the next election.
24.
Nick Brown is a holder of the freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne award, a supporter of Humanists UK, a member of GMB, and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.
25.
Nick Brown is known to have a love for classical music, which developed during his time at Manchester University.
26.
Nick Brown is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group.
27.
In 1998, Nick Brown came out as gay after a former lover contacted the News of the World offering to sell his story.
28.
Nick Brown is a governor of Walker Riverside Academy, a patron of Leeds Youth Opera and a trustee of the Biscuit Factory art exhibition in Shieldfield, Newcastle.
29.
Nick Brown formerly chaired the all-party parliamentary group for motorcycle speedway racing.