The 'Baby of the House' - what do we know about Nadia Whittome?

Many readers may not of come across the name Nadia Whittome, however, she seems a force to be reckoned with.

On the 13th of December, Whittome became the the newest Labour MP for Nottingham East. She proceeded the newly Independent Group for Change MP, Chris Leslie and by doing so became the Baby of the House.

The Baby of the House is an unofficial title given in parliament to the youngest member. At the age of 23, she is one of the youngest ever MPs to be within the house. However, this isn’t the youngest MP Britain has seen. In 2015, Mhairi Black became the youngest MP ever know as we was elected at the age of 20 years and 237 days.

Who is Nadia Whittome?

Nottingham born and bred, Whittome has spent her life growing up in the city of Nottingham. She comes from a working-class family of a single-parent household and is of Punjabi-descent.

She first gained an involvement in politics in 2013, back when she was a teenager. When interviews by the BBC last year, she spoke about how herself and local community were all effected by the bedroom tax. Whittome lived in an are of Nottingham called ‘The Meadows’ (where she resides today) saw how friends, neighbours and family struggled to make ends meet due to the tax.

In the interview, she said she grew angrier as her experience of austerity worsened her family’s situation.

She also went on to tell the BBC that for this reason, it made her want to “fight back against the Tory government”.

Whittome’s previous work has included being a project worker for a social enterprise.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

The New Nottingham East MP

According to the BBC, days before the General Election, Whittome looked into Chirstmas temp jobs in case the election did not go her way.

She gained a majority of 17,393 in December, gaining 43.4% of the vote for Nottingham East. The seat has been held by Labour since the general election in 1992.

When elected, she pledged to donate a large part of her salary to charity. She announced last year she would only be accepting the ‘worker’s wage’ of £35,000 after tax. The basic annual salary for an MP before tax is £79,468.

In an interview with the Magazine Time, Whittome said “… it’s important for workers’ representatives, and that’s what I am, to be on a worker’s wage”. She continued by saying that “MPs don’t deserve [nearly] £80,000, but because so do firefighters, nurses, teachers, shop workers. When they get their pay rise, I’ll get mine.”.

What’s next for Whittome?

The former hate crime worker will be well watched this year. She has already caused debate after deciding she would take a ‘worker’s wage’ at the end of last year. However, how will she shape the East of Nottingham?

In her run within the campaign she created a ‘People’s Plan’. The plan itself looked at fighting building on green, insulating council houses, ending rough sleeping and new-ending waiting lists. She also pledged to tackle knife crime within the city by pushing youth services.