Natalie Fleet is the Labour MP for Bolsover, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Fleet received 17,197 votes (40.5%). The Conservative candidate, Mark Fletcher, received 10,874 votes (25.6%), while the Reform UK candidate, Robert Reaney, secured 9,131 votes (21.5%). Natalie Fleet was elected with a majority of 6,323 votes.  

The Bolsover constituency is located in Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region. The seat was created in 1950.  

Historically, Bolsover was considered one of the safest Labour seats in the country. It was represented by Dennis Skinner, the so-called “Beast of Bolsover”, from 1970 until 2019. However, the Conservatives won the seat for the first time in 2019.

Fleet’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Bolsover was Mark Fletcher of the Conservative Party.

Political Career

Fleet served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for safeguarding and violence against women and girls in the Home Office from May to July 2026. She left government as part of the July 2026 reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

In a post to social media upon leaving the role, Fleet said serving in government was the honour of a “lifetime”.

She added: “Quickly found contents overwhelmingly triggering. Did bravest thing I’ve ever done & told PMs team I sadly couldn’t stay. Victims deserve someone at their best. I wish my successor well & will do all I can to support them.”

Fleet’s initial appointment as a Home Office minister was part of a targeted reshuffle designed to stabilise Keir Starmer’s position as prime minister after a series of resignations. It came as several ministers stepped down calling for Starmer to resign or set out a timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. Conversely, Fleet’s appointment signalled their support for the prime minister.

As such, Fleet was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed the May 2026 joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.”

The statement read: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.

“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”

Fleet succeeded Jess Phillips as parliamentary under-secretary of state for safeguarding and violence against women and girls.

Previously, Fleet served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Work and Pensions (2025-2026).

Fleet has sat as a member of the women and equalities committee (2024-2025).

Fleet delivered her maiden speech on 29 October 2024 during a debate on the Great British Energy Bill.

In it, she said: “In his maiden speech, Dennis [Skinner] spoke about the more than 10,000 working miners he represented. I do not have that pleasure. Born at the start of the strike, I grew up seeing our pits go.

“I had to stop visiting the canteen that my Dar took me to on the way to race the pigeons, because it closed. My community grieved, and I grew up seeing more kids like me go to prison than to university.

She added: “The reason I am here – the reason I leave my family every week to do this – is because I feel so deeply about the difference that politics can make.

“Things have been better before, and they will be again. That change has begun. I am here to make sure that this powerful state has the most positive impact on lives in Bolsover.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Oppose leadership election: In May 2026, Fleet was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed a joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.” The letter was an intervention in the political crisis engulfing Keir Starmer’s premiership, after Labour suffered heavy losses in the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. It was organised as a counterweight to a mounting rebellion that had seen high-profile figures, including some ministers, call for Starmer’s resignation.

The statement read: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.

“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Fleet was one of 117 Labour MPs who nominated Lucy Powell for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Powell, the former leader of the House of Commons, was seen as a candidate representing the party’s “soft left”; she was supported by leading soft left figures including Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham. She secured 117 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), above the 80 required, and went on to win the election – defeating Bridget Phillipson with 54.3% of the vote.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Fleet voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Fleet voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Fleet voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Born on 24 May 1984, Fleet was raised in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. Her father was a coal miner and her mother worked in a factory.

Fleet left school at the age of 16 after becoming pregnant. She undertook a university course in her early 20s but did not complete it.

Before entering parliament, Fleet worked in the voluntary sector and for trade unions.

Personal Life

Fleet married Ritchie Fleet in 2007. They have four children and a grandchild.

In July 2024, Fleet told GB News she had been groomed by an older man and referred to her experience of having a child at the age of 15.

She said: “At the time, when I was 15, I felt full of shame and guilt and responsibility.

“And all I was determined to do was make sure that she had a life that was as good as she would have had to any age parent. That was what I was determined to do, I didn’t think about me or the impact.”

Trivia

Fleet is the first woman to represent the Bolsover constituency in parliament.