Natalie Fleet

British politician (born 1984) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Natalie Fleet (born 24 May 1984) is a British politician who has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls since 2026. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover since 2024.

Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byJess Phillips
Preceded byMark Fletcher
Majority6,323 (14.9%)
Quick facts MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls ...
Natalie Fleet
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls
Assumed office
12 May 2026
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byJess Phillips
Member of Parliament
for Bolsover
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byMark Fletcher
Majority6,323 (14.9%)
Personal details
Born (1984-05-24) 24 May 1984 (age 42)
PartyLabour
Spouse
Ritchie Fleet
(m. 2007)
Children4
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Early life and career

Fleet was born on 24 May 1984 and raised in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.[1][2] Her mother is a former factory worker and her father and other family members were coal miners.[3] As a child, she received free school meals and experienced homelessness.[4]

Fleet worked in the voluntary sector before working for trade unions, including the National Education Union.[4]

Political career

Fleet joined the Labour Party as a teenager.[2] She was the Labour candidate for Ashfield at the 2019 general election, finishing in third place in the seat Labour had won in 2017.[5] She received threats and her campaign office was vandalised during the election campaign and she chose not to contest the seat again due to safety concerns.[4]

Fleet was elected as the first female MP for Bolsover at the 2024 general election, defeating the incumbent Conservative Mark Fletcher.[6][7] She had failed to win the initial candidate selection,[8] and subsequently won following the winner's resignation.

In November 2024, Fleet voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted dying.[9]

On 12 May 2026, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls,[10] succeeding Jess Phillips who had resigned during the 2026 leadership crisis.[11]

Personal life

She married Richie Fleet in 2007.[12][13] They have four children[3] and one grandchild.

After her election as an MP in 2024, she said in an interview on GB News that she had been groomed at the age of 15 by an older man, and became pregnant with her first daughter as a result of statutory rape.[14] Fleet has spoken of wanting to be a voice for other women who are victims of grooming and sexual violence.[15][16] As of June 2025 she was working to remove parental rights from rapists.[17]

See also

References

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