Nic Dakin

Nicholas "Nic" Dakin (born 10 July 1955) is a British Labour Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Scunthorpe since 2010. He was promoted from his positions as Opposition Whips and Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in September 2015 to the Shadow Schools Minister under Jeremy Corbyn but resigned from the position in June 2016. Dakin subsequently re-joined the Opposition Whips' Office in October 2016.

Early life
Dakin grew up in Leicestershire and attended school there before studying at the University of Hull and then King’s University College London, completing his undergraduate degree and then his PGCE respectively.

He taught English in Gävle, in eastern Sweden, and then at John Leggott College in Scunthorpe, where he became principal.

While teaching at John Leggott College, he was also a local councillor for Kingsway with Lincoln Gardens and then leader of North Lincolnshire Council from 1997–2003. He was also the deputy chair of Yorkshire Forward from 2005–2007.

Parliamentary career
He was selected in October 2009 to represent the Scunthorpe constituency and won the seat in May 2010 with a majority of 2,549. Subsequently he won in 2015 and 2017. In 2017 he won with a 52% share of the vote.

Dakin has previously served on the Education Select Committee and currently is a member of the House of Common's Procedure Committee and the Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art.

In October 2011 Dakin was appointed an Opposition Whip under Ed Miliband. He was then given the additional role of Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in May 2015. After Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership of the Labour party in September 2015, Dakin was made Shadow Minister for Schools. Dakin resigned his Shadow Cabinet position in June 2016 citing loss of confidence in the Labour leader.

In October 2016 Dakin re-joined the Opposition Whips' office.

Dakin is currently the chair of several All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) including: Steel and Metal Related Industries, Pancreatic Cancer, Education, Skills and Employment, and Bioethanol.

Personal life
He married Audrey Balsom in 1979 in Leicester. Dakin has three children.

Dakin had previously trained to be an accountant and enjoys playing squash, walking, and listening to music.

Dakin ran the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon debuting with a time of five hours, 31 minutes and 17 seconds.