Nicholas Anthony Fletcher (born 15 July 1972) is a British
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politician who has been the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Don Valley since the
2019 general election.
He is the first Conservative to ever be elected for the seat.
Early life and career
Fletcher grew up in
Armthorpe
Armthorpe is a large village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 12,630, increasing to 14,457 at the 2011 Census.
Histor ...
, 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. Fletcher also owns a property portfolio consisting of ten residential properties.
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. He also served as the chairman of the Doncaster Conservative Federation.
Controversies
In his first notable media presence, as part of a debate in the UK Parliament's Westminster Hall, for
International Men's Day
International Men's Day (IMD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on November 19 to recognize and celebrate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of men. The objectives of celebrating an International Men's Day are set ou ...
2021, Fletcher claimed that male role models in film and television were being replaced by women (namely
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The ...
,
The Equalizer,
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
, and The
Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
), linking that to the number of young men turning to crime. His apparent opposition to women playing these roles was criticised by fellow MPs (including
Luke Pollard
Luke Pollard (born 10 April 1980) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport since 2017. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he has been Shadow Minister for the Armed For ...
), and also condemned by social media users as sexist and misogynistic.
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.
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”
Parliamentary career
Fletcher won the seat of
Don Valley from
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
incumbent
Caroline Flint
Caroline Louise Flint (born 20 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Don Valley from 1997 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she attended the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Minister for Hous ...
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
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
since 1922.
Fletcher delivered his maiden speech on 16 March 2020, 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
The Petitions Committee is a parliamentary committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Its role is to oversee petitions submitted to Parliament, including both electronically through the UK Parliament petitions website, and traditi ...
.
Following an interim report on the connections between
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
and properties now in the care of the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, including links with
historic slavery, Fletcher was among the signatories of a letter to ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' in November 2020 from the "
Common Sense Group
The Common Sense Group is an informal group of Conservative MPs in the United Kingdom who advocate a broad range of ideals that they think the Conservative Party and the country ought to be following.
The group was inspired by the euro-sceptic ...
" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by
cultural Marxist
The term "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture. The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ...
dogma, colloquially known as the '
woke
''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social ineq ...
agenda'".
Fletcher endorsed
Kemi Badenoch
Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch ( ; née Adegoke, 2 January 1980) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022. She previously served in ...
during the
July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election
July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...
. After Badenoch was eliminated, Fletcher supported
Liz Truss
Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...
.
Affiliations
Fletcher sits as a Vice Chair or Officer for several All-Party Parliamentary Groups, including:
* APPG on
Electric Vehicles
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
* APPG on Transport Across the North
* APPG on
Shared Ownership Housing
* APPG on Skills, Careers and Employment
* APPG on Small and Micro Business
He is also chair o
APPG on Issues Affecting Men and Boys
Fletcher is a member of the
Northern Research Group
The Northern Research Group (NRG) is a group founded by a number of Conservative MPs in the United Kingdom who were elected to represent constituencies in northern England, Wales and the Scottish borders in the 2019 general election to pressure ...
, a group founded by Conservative MPs who represent constituencies in
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
and the
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...
. He is also a member of the
Common Sense Group
The Common Sense Group is an informal group of Conservative MPs in the United Kingdom who advocate a broad range of ideals that they think the Conservative Party and the country ought to be following.
The group was inspired by the euro-sceptic ...
, a Parliamentary organisation which represents the
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
wing of the Conservative Party.
Personal life
Fletcher resides in
Bawtry
Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies between Doncaster, Gainsborough and Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. The town is historically part of ...
and is married to Gail. They have two children, James and Lucy.
He is a practising Christian.
He has been a long-time runner. He ran the
London Marathon
The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...
in October 2021, raising over £2,000 for his chosen charity, the
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Nick
1972 births
Living people
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 2019–present
People from Bawtry
British real estate businesspeople
Businesspeople from Yorkshire
English businesspeople in property