23 Facts About Nicola Blackwood

Nicola Claire Blackwood, Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford was born on 16 October 1979 and is a British politician of the Conservative Party.

Baroness Blackwood was a Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon from 2010 to 2017.

Nicola Blackwood has been known by her married name Nicola Blackwood-Bate since 2016.

Nicola Blackwood was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but has lived in the UK since she was two months old.

Nicola Blackwood is the daughter of a medical doctor and a nurse.

Nicola Blackwood was given a flute aged six, which led to a lifelong interest in music, later learning to sing and play the piano.

Nicola Blackwood studied music at St Anne's College, Oxford and Somerville College, Oxford, and later studied for an MPhil degree in musicology at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Nicola Blackwood was chosen as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon at an open primary on 13 November 2006.

Nicola Blackwood was a member of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, as well as holding a position on the Council of Advisors for ZANE, a charity which seeks to support pensioners in Zimbabwe.

Nicola Blackwood was elected Member of Parliament at the 2010 election with a majority of 176, defeating the Liberal Democrats, who had held the seat since 1997.

Nicola Blackwood lost her seat to the Liberal Democrats at the 2017 election, who won it back with a majority of 816.

On 10 January 2019, Nicola Blackwood was appointed to replace Lord O'Shaughnessy as a junior minister for innovation in the Department of Health and Social Care serving in the House of Lords with the formal title of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and she would thus be created a life peer.

Nicola Blackwood resigned from her ministerial position in the House of Lords in February 2020 to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to pursue time with her family.

Nicola Blackwood voted against the Marriage Bill in 2013 after indicating to many students and constituents that she would support the measure, for which she was criticised by the Oxford University Student Union.

Nicola Blackwood said she had voted against the final draft of the Bill because she was not satisfied with the protection afforded religious freedoms.

At the 2015 general election, Nicola Blackwood retained her seat with a majority of 9,582, which was in part due to the national swing of voters against the Liberal Democrats.

Nicola Blackwood chaired the Human Tissue Authority between March 2018 and February 2019 when she was ennobled and rejoined the Government.

Nicola Blackwood was briefly the youngest member of the House of Lords until Lord Ravensdale became a member of the House in March 2019.

Nicola Blackwood was appointed Chair of Genomics England in May 2020 which runs the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Nicola Blackwood has been a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship since 2005, and is a regular worshipper at the Church of England's St Aldate's in Oxford.

Nicola Blackwood stated that her medical conditions had not affected her performance as a Member of Parliament.

Nicola Blackwood's POTS was thought to be the cause of her fainting in the House of Lords whilst giving a statement at the despatch box on 17 June 2019, although she later said it was "no big deal".

Nicola Blackwood married Paul Bate, founder, chief executive officer and portfolio manager at Matterhorn Investment Management LLP, in September 2016 at Merton College, Oxford.