Caroline Nokes is the Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, having first been elected to parliament at the 2010 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Nokes received 19,893 votes, representing 39.8% of the vote share. The Liberal Democrat candidate, Geoff Cooper, received 17,702 votes (35.4%), while the Reform UK candidate secured 5,716 votes (11.4%). Nokes was duly re-elected with a majority of 2,191 votes.

The Romsey and Southampton North constituency is located in southern Hampshire. It includes northern suburban areas of the city of Southampton, such as Bassett and Swaythling, alongside the market town of Romsey and surrounding rural areas in the Test Valley.

The constituency was created for the 2010 general election and has been held by Caroline Nokes since then. Its main predecessor seat, Romsey, was held by the Liberal Democrats (Sandra Gidley) from 2000 to 2010.

Political Career

Nokes was elected by MPs to serve as second deputy chairman of ways and means, one of the three deputy speakers who chair debates in the House of Commons, in July 2024. This means Nokes is the most junior of the deputy speakers.

Nokes’candidacy was sponsored by Melanie Onn, Mims Davies, Mark Garnier, Sir Julian Lewis, Alison Griffiths, Dame Caroline Dinenage, Bill Esterson, Matt Western, Carolyn Harris and Wera Hobhouse.

In a campaign statement, Nokes wrote: “In my time on the backbenches, I have never been afraid to speak out, and recognise that on some occasions that is crucial. But the role of deputy speaker is absolutely not about being outspoken, it is about enabling others to get their point across.

“This is my opportunity to hear your voices, not for you to hear mine, and there may be many who welcome that!”

Nokes was elected alongside Nusrat Ghani (chairman of ways and means) and Judith Cummins (first deputy chairman of ways and means). This was the first time all three deputy speakers were women, and it represented the most diverse group ever to hold the roles.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the commons, responded: “This parliament is breaking more glass ceilings than ever before, with the biggest number of women MPs ever – and now an all-female team of deputies.

“All three MPs are incredible politicians who are well-respected by this House, and I am looking forward to working with them.”

In December 2025, Nokes casted the deciding vote in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. According to precedent, Nokes voted in favour of the bill, breaking a 100-100 tie, to ensure further debate.

Nokes is a member of the panel of chairs (since 2019). The panel of chairs is made up of MPs chosen by the House of Commons speaker, typically at the beginning of every parliament, to chair public bill committees and other commons general committees.

Nokes chaired the House of Commons women and equalities committee from January 2020 to May 2024. By virtue of this role, she sat on the liaison committee across the same time period.

Nokes served in ministerial roles under prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May. Most recently, she was minister of state for immigration at the home office from January 2018 until July 2019. Nokes left this post upon Boris Johnson’s appointment as prime minister. She reportedly learned the news of her dismissal via the Daily Mail’s deputy political editor, John Stevens, who posted to Twitter (now X): “Caroline Nokes sacked”.

Nokes responded: “Good of you to tell me first.”

In September 2019, Nokes was among the Conservative MPs who had the whip withdrawn after she supported a motion to seize control of the House of Commons order paper, allowing for the introduction of a bill to block a “no-deal” Brexit. A total of 21 Conservative MPs had the whip suspended, including former chancellors Philip Hammond and Kenneth Clarke, and Sir Nicholas Soames, Winston Churchill’s grandson.

The European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill, sponsored by the Labour MP Hilary Benn, effectively imposed a legal duty on the prime minister to request an extension to the Brexit negotiating period. The so-called “Benn Act” passed its commons second reading by 329 votes to 300 and its third reading by 327 to 299 on the same day.

Nokes was among the 10 MPs who had the Conservative whip restored in October. She was one of four of the suspended 21 who stood as Conservative candidates at the 2019 general election.

In May 2020, Nokes criticised the actions of Johnson’s then-chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, over his journeys during the first national lockdown. The actions of Cummings, which included a trip from London to County Durham and a subsequent drive to Barnard Castle, were seen by many as a breach of the government’s own “stay at home” guidance.

In a social media post, Nokes stated: “I made my views clear to my whip yesterday. There cannot be one rule for most of us and wriggle room for others. My inbox is rammed with very angry constituents and I do not blame them. They have made difficult sacrifices over the course of the last 9 weeks.”

In November 2021, Nokes alleged that Stanley Johnson, the then prime minister’s father, had inappropriately touched her. Nokes, speaking to Sky News, said the incident took place at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool in 2003, when she was in her early 30s.

Nokes said: “I can remember a really prominent man – at the time the Conservative candidate for Teignbridge in Devon – smacking me on the backside about as hard as he could and going, ‘oh, Romsey, you’ve got a lovely seat’.”

Stanley Johnson responded: “I have no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all – but there you go. And no reply… Hey ho, good luck and thanks.”

Nokes was one of the first Conservative MPs to submit a letter to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs, calling for a vote of “no confidence” in Johnson as Conservative leader.

In April 2022, Nokes confirmed she had submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s leadership to the 1922 committee of backbench Conservative MPs.

In an article for the Guardian, published in April 2022, Nokes said she had written to Brady “months ago”.

She wrote: “Twelve years as an MP, and a lifetime spent in the immediate Romsey area, have taught me many things about my constituents. By and large, they are law abiding, they want to do the right thing and they have a strong sense of community, as could be seen by the myriad village support networks that were established at the start of the pandemic…

“So I have not withdrawn the letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson that I wrote months ago to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 committee, because to do so would be letting down all of those people who spent the pandemic doing the right thing.”

Previously, Nokes was parliamentary under-secretary of state at the cabinet office (June 2017 – January 2018) and parliamentary under-secretary of state for welfare delivery at the Department for Work and Pensions (July 2016 – June 2017).

Nokes also served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Mark Harper as work and pensions secretary from 2014 to 2015 and subsequently as a PPS in the Department for Transport. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs.

Nokes was a member of the House of Commons education committee (2015-2016 and 2014-2015), and the environmental audit committee (2010-2015).

Nokes delivered her maiden speech on 17 June 2010 during a debate on building a high-skilled economy.

In it, she said: “I welcome the news from the government that regional spatial strategies are to be consigned to the dustbin. We cannot allow the gaps between settlements to be eroded so that local character is diminished as neighbourhoods coalesce and individual identity is lost.

“The residents of Halterworth, those close to Hoe lane in North Baddesley, and the residents of Redbridge lane in Nursling have a commitment from me to ensure that local strategic planning really is put back in the hands of local people.”

She added: “Romsey is claimed to be one of the most haunted parts of Hampshire. Florence Nightingale allegedly still walks the corridors of her old home at Embley Park, and both Romsey abbey and Wherwell priory are said to be haunted by nuns.

“One of the best known ghost tales is that of two Roundhead soldiers who were hanged from the iron bracket outside the former Swan Inn.”

Nokes stood unsuccessfully for parliament at the 2001 and 2005 general elections.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2024: Nokes supported Tom Tugendhat’s candidacy in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Rishi Sunak following the party’s defeat in the 2024 general election. Tugendhat, the then-shadow security minister, was eliminated in the third parliamentary ballot on 8 October 2024 after receiving 20 votes.

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Nokes supported Penny Mordaunt’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers.

Mordaunt, the international trade minister, was described as a “socially liberal Brexiteer”. She was narrowly overtaken by Liz Truss in the final round. Mordaunt was thereby eliminated in the fifth parliamentary ballot on 20 July after receiving 105 votes.

Nokes went on to support Rishi Sunak’s candidacy. Sunak, the former chancellor, warned against “comforting fairytales” regarding unfunded tax cuts. Although he won every round of the parliamentary ballots, securing 137 votes in the final stage, Sunak was defeated by Liz Truss in the membership vote, finishing with 60,399 votes (42.6%).

Tory leadership 2022 (II): Nokes again supported Sunak’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s October 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Liz Truss after just 45 days in office, following the financial and political tailspin triggered by her “mini-budget”.

Sunak, the former chancellor, had finished second to Truss in the previous contest. Unlike the summer contest, this election featured an expedited process requiring each candidate to secure at least 100 nominations from MPs to proceed. Sunak, having emerged as the clear frontrunner, was declared leader of the Conservative Party unopposed on 24 October.

Tory leadership 2019: Nokes supported Sajid Javid for the party’s leadership in 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Theresa May following her inability to secure a Brexit deal acceptable to the Conservative Party.

Javid, the then-home secretary, successfully reached the final four of the parliamentary stages, but was eliminated in the fourth ballot on 20 June after receiving 34 votes.

Tory leadership 2016: Nokes supported Theresa May for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The contest was triggered by the resignation of David Cameron following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

May, the then-home secretary, secured a commanding lead in the parliamentary stages, receiving 165 votes in the first ballot and 199 in the second. Following the withdrawal of her final rival, Andrea Leadsom, on 11 July, May was declared leader unopposed and was appointed prime minister two days later.

Factional identity and party tradition

One Nation Conservative: Nokes has been listed as a member of the One Nation Conservatives caucus of moderate Tory MPs. The group was established in 2019 to provide a voice for the party’s more pragmatic and professedly “moderate” elements – a factional counter-weight to its ideological free-market, eurosceptic and socially conservative groups. In the 2019 to 2024 parliament, the group was chaired by former first secretary of state Damian Green, who went on to lose his seat at the 2024 general election.

Conservative Environment Network: Nokes is listed as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) parliamentary caucus. CEN is an independent forum for conservatives that supports conservation and decarbonisation. It calls for the environment to be given a higher profile at the heart of policy making, describing “biodiversity loss, climate change, and wasteful resource use are threats to our national security”, and promotes “market-based policies” to environmental challenges. Members of its parliamentary caucus, such as Nokes, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Bright Blue: Nokes has been listed as a parliamentary supporter of Bright Blue, an independent centre-right think tank and membership organisation that champions liberal conservatism in the UK. Since its founding in 2014, the organisation has expanded its reach through a new cross-party strategy.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Nokes supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of her constituents, 53.9% of whom also voted to Remain.

Article 50: In February 2017, Nokes voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Assisted dying

As a deputy speaker, Nokes did not cast a vote at the second reading (November 2024) or third reading (June 2025) of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill.

Social values and conscience issues

Same-sex marriage (2013): In February 2013, Nokes was one of the 139 Conservative MPs to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at its second reading. The landmark piece of legislation, which received its second reading by 400 votes to 175, legalised marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales.

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Nokes voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Nokes voted in favour of a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Syria airstrikes (2013): Nokes voted in favour of the government’s motion on the principle of military intervention in Syria in August 2013. The government motion was defeated by 285 votes to 272, a move which effectively ruled out UK participation in any US-led military strikes.

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Nokes was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Before Politics

Born Caroline Fiona Ellen Perry in Lyndhurst, Hampshire on 26 June 1972, she grew up in West Wellow. Her father, Roy Perry, is a former Conservative member of the European parliament (MEP).

Nokes was educated at the Romsey school, La Sagesse Convent school (Romsey), and Peter Symonds college in Winchester. She studied politics at the University of Sussex, graduating in 1994.

Prior to her election to parliament, she worked as a policy adviser and researcher for her father during his time as an MEP. She was previously chief executive of the national pony society, an organisation promoting native pony breeds.

Nokes served as a Conservative councillor on Test Valley borough council, representing the Romsey Extra ward, from 1999 until 2010. She held the council’s leisure portfolio for nine years.

Personal Life

Nokes married Marc Nokes in 1995; they divorced in 2012. She has one daughter.

Trivia

Nokes is a trustee of the charity World Horse Welfare, reflecting her background with the National Pony Society.

Nokes chaired the World Horse Welfare charity’s annual conference in 2025.