Nadia Whittome

INTERVIEW WITH

Nadia Whittome

Nadia Whittome is the UK’s youngest Member of Parliament (MP) having been elected at 23 years old as the Labour candidate for Nottingham East; the place where she had grown up and lived. I talked to her in January about how being a woman in parliament affected her role; her concerns about global warming; how she became an MP, and what she wanted to achieve during her time in Parliament.

Nadia had not wanted to be an MP as a child. She had studied Law at Nottingham University but dropped out when it became too expensive, then became a hate crime worker and worked as a carer which she says she misses. She was inspired by her experience of growing up in a community that was badly affected by austerity (a Government plan to cut public spending). Nadia said it made her feel powerless at first but she thought “I’m going to get active, instead of letting myself fall into disempowerment.” This trigged her journey into activism and eventually lead to her becoming a Member of Parliament. Nadia wants to be a representative of the people in parliament;

“I make a concerted effort for my primary point of reference not to be the people in Parliament or the House of Commons, but to be my community and activists outside of parliament. I don’t think MPs should be separated from the people they are elected to represent. I’m in parliament to represent the people of Nottingham East but also working-class people and the younger generation across the country.”

When I ask Nadia about her experience in parliament and whether it has ever felt intimidating being in a mostly male cabinet, she tells me that “I don’t feel intimidated in parliament, but I would say it is a very alienating place”. Her colleague Kate Green, a fellow Labour MP, told her a very shocking fact “There are more portraits of horses in parliament then there are of women.” When I stated that women are still largely underrepresented within the Government, she told me that;

“The issue of women’s liberation is much wider than parliament, even when we [women] have 50% of the seats in Parliament, that does not mean that the patriarchy (A system in which men hold power and are in most of the leadership and authority roles) has been successfully fought. Take for example [that] we have had two women Prime Ministers, and you could say that it is a victory for women, but I don’t think that has been the case; we saw under Theresa May, women being disproportionately impacted by austerity. I would say that until every woman has been liberated, we haven’t got to where we need to be. You could have every CEO (chief executive officer - the highest-ranking executive in a company) in the country as a woman but until every low-paid women workers, like cleaners and carers are earning at least a living wage then we have not achieved liberation.”

Nadia believes the way forward is to open up Parliament to these women and other groups that are usually left out of politics. During her career, she aims to give a platform to “activists and marginalised people in parliament” saying she wants “to open the door of Parliament to those groups.” Giving them a “voice in parliament, not just through me but their own voice”. Nadia tells me that parliament can be “very exclusive and [it can] alienate marginalised communities; Working class people; people of colour; LGBTQ+ people; particularly people with overlapping identities like working class women; women of colour, and disabled women.” She wants to work with those groups to be able to “create new leaders” because she thinks “that it is an important measure of success, how many new leaders you can help to create.”

She is currently working with youth climate strikers to put the climate emergency on the curriculum for children to learn in schools. “I would like to say to anyone reading that if there are any campaigns that you are passionate about to please reach out to me, and I can’t guarantee an immediate reply, but I will try to get back to you as soon as I can.” Nadia Whittome feels strongly about climate change and what should be done about it. Currently, she is a member of the Environmental Audit committee, a branch of the government that manages the environmental effect of policies.

Nadia sees the climate crisis as the biggest problem that faces the younger generation. “It is a problem that effects our [human] existence and whether we have a planet healthy enough to live on in the next 50 years depends on what we do in the next 10 years.” Nadia believes that for an effective solution to be made it is not the general public but instead big corporations such as fuel companies that have to make changes.

“We are not going to exit this crisis by normal people shopping organic or having a shower instead of a bath; its multinational corporations, and big polluters that have made money from this and caused it [global warming]. Our answer to that needs to be about taking those multi nationals and big polluters head on; the power that we have by making tweaks in our everyday lives is dwarfed by the power, responsibility, and blame that big corporations carry.” Continuing that, “It is important to do what we can in our lives, but you are not necessarily going to be able to make the decisions that would lower your own carbon footprint” this is why she believes it is necessary to push for change within parliament and encourages the younger generation to do this too.

I asked Nadia what advise she would give to the younger generations;

“I would say that politics needs you; the world needs you. Keep doing what you are already doing, however small scale it feels, whether that is organising a climate strike at your school, writing to your MP, joining a union if you are 16 or over, even encouraging your friends to join a union. You do have power, but we need to work together to get more power, and to be able to empower more people, but that is only going to happen if we demand it.”

To contact Nadia Whittome use her email address: nadia.whittome.mp@parliament.uk