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Nickie Aiken

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Nickie Aiken
MP
Aiken in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Cities of London and Westminster
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byMark Field
Majority3,953 (9.2%)
Leader of Westminster City Council
In office
25 January 2017 – 22 January 2020
Preceded byPhilippa Roe, Baroness Couttie
Succeeded byRachael Robathan
Personal details
Born
Nicola Jane Aiken

(1969-02-04) 4 February 1969 (age 55)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Alex Aiken
​
(m. 1999)​
Children2
Residence(s)Pimlico, London
Alma materUniversity of Exeter
Websitenickieaiken.org.uk

Nicola Jane "Nickie" Aiken[1] (born 4 February 1969)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cities of London and Westminster since 2019. She served as the leader of Westminster City Council from 2017 to 2020.[3]

Biography

Aiken first moved to London in 1997. In 2006, she was elected as a Conservative councillor for Westminster City Council, representing Warwick ward.

Aiken voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum.[4] She later supported Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.[5] Aiken voted in favour of the Internal Market Bill in 2020.[6] She was the leader of Westminster City Council from January 2017 to January 2020, during which time a number of terrorist attacks took place in the city.[7]

In early December 2019, she left Twitter, calling it "toxic".[8] She has since returned to the social networking site.[9]

Aiken was selected as the Conservative Party's candidate for the Central London seat of Cities of London and Westminster to fight the 2019 general election. She defeated the Labour Party's Gordon Nardell and Chuka Umunna, the Liberal Democrat candidate who had left the Labour Party in protest against Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. She received 3,953 more votes than her nearest competitor, Umunna. This represented an increase in the majority held by the constituency's previous MP.[10]

In Parliament, she was a member of the Women and Equalities Committee until September 2020. She was appointed vice chairman of the Conservative Party in October 2020, with responsibility for women. She continues to serve as a Warwick councillor in her constituency. Outside of politics, Aiken is a company director at Sprucespace Property Management. She has worked for the Public Relations and Communications Association in media relations and crisis communications.[11][12]

Personal life

Aiken has lived in Pimlico for 20 years, and prior to that, lived in the Barbican.[3][4]

She is married to civil servant Alex Aiken, the UK Government's communications chief. From 2000 to 2012, he was director of communications and strategy for Westminster City Council, and before that he worked for the Conservative Party as head of its campaigns unit and its press office.[13] They have two children.[3][14][15]

References

  1. ^ "No. 62862". The London Gazette. 20 December 2019. p. 23182.
  2. ^ Who's Who (2021). Aiken, Nicola Jane. Oxford.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b c "Nickie Aiken". City of Westminster. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Nickie Aiken: Change is coming to the Two Cities". CityAM. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ Neilan, Catherine (14 January 2020). "Nickie Aiken: The country must move forward as one". CityAM. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  6. ^ Clarke, Seán (5 September 2020). "Ministers want powers to break international law: how did your MP vote?". The Guardian.
  7. ^ Gregory, Julia (5 December 2019). "Westminster's Nickie Aiken boxes in her spare time and she's pulling no punches in her election bid". MyLondon. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  8. ^ "'Appalled' Conservative General Election candidate ditches 'toxic' Twitter". swlondoner.co.uk. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Nickie Aiken MP #TwoCities". Twitter. Retrieved 29 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Gregory, Julia (13 December 2019). "General Election 2019 reaction: Westminster's Nickie Aiken pledges first priority to help London's rough sleepers". MyLondon. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Nickie Jane AIKEN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Register of interests for Councillor Nickie Aiken". www.westminster.gov.uk. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Executive Director, Government Communications Alex Aiken". Gov.uk. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  14. ^ "New Westminster Council boss vows to get a grip on affordable housing". Evening Standard. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  15. ^ Norwood, Graham (29 February 2004). "Uphill struggle as rates rise". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Cities of London and Westminster
2019–present 		Incumbent
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