Nesil Caliskan

Nesil Caliskan was elected Labour MP for Barking on 4 July 2024 with 16,227 votes (44.5 per cent) and a majority of 11,054. She was not the original candidate. Darren Rodwell, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, was deselected after a series of allegations just days before the nominations deadline. The NEC endorsed Caliskan to fill the vacancy. She was parachuted into one of Labour's safest seats, replacing Margaret Hodge who had held it for 30 years, with almost no time to campaign. She won anyway.

On 12 May 2026 she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Devolution, Faith and Communities at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, replacing Miatta Fahnbulleh who resigned during the 2026 Labour leadership crisis and called for Starmer to stand down. She is the first British MP of Turkish Cypriot origin.

Born in Enfield in October 1988 to a Turkish Cypriot family and a Labour member from the age of 15, she read politics at Reading and took an MSc at the LSE, and worked in the NHS before local government. Elected to Enfield Council in 2015, she became its Leader in 2018 at just 29, the first woman and first person of Turkish Cypriot heritage to lead the borough, and held it for six years; she also led the LGA Labour Group from 2023 to 2024, senior local government roles that go well beyond running a single borough.

The 2019 Sunday Times defamation episode is relevant context. The paper published allegations of nepotism relating to a cabinet appointment at Enfield. The correction confirmed the relevant appointment had been made by secret ballot, not by Caliskan directly.

In Parliament she served on the Public Accounts Committee before being appointed Comptroller of the Household (a government whip role) in September 2025. She held that position until her May 2026 ministerial appointment. Her ministerial brief covers devolution, faith, communities, resettlement and community relations.

Reform UK finished second in Barking with 14.2 per cent. The Workers Party took 9.8 per cent. The Greens took 7.3 per cent. The combined non Labour vote is scattered but substantial, and the seat's political character has changed since Hodge's era.