The Lord Forbes of Newcastle CBE
Labour
Member of the House of Lords
M
Lord Forbes of Newcastle's full title is The Lord Forbes of Newcastle CBE. His name is Nicholas Iain Forbes, and he is a current member of the House of Lords.
Allowance claims · 2026
Data not yet released for 2026 — the Lords Finance Office publishes monthly CSVs ~6-8 weeks after month-end.
Lords votes · 2026
176 divisions
5 Content(2.8%)
156 Not-Content(88.6%)
15 didn't vote(8.5%)
2026-07-21
Not-Content
173–234
Not-Content
2026-07-13
Not-Content
41–118
Not-Content
2026-07-13
Not-Content
142–138
Content
2026-07-13
Not-Content
158–239
Not-Content
2026-04-27
Not-Content
58–138
Not-Content
2026-04-23
Not-Content
152–207
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
27–89
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
30–130
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
46–117
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
135–154
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
65–173
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
178–231
Not-Content
2026-04-13
Not-Content
69–332
Not-Content
2026-03-26
Not-Content
115–197
Not-Content
2026-03-26
Not-Content
64–140
Not-Content
2026-03-25
Not-Content
95–137
Not-Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
70–132
Not-Content
2026-03-24
Not-Content
80–166
Not-Content
2026-03-12
Not-Content
26–134
Not-Content
2026-03-05
Not-Content
193–143
Content
2026-03-05
Not-Content
194–140
Content
2026-03-05
Not-Content
198–139
Content
2026-03-05
Not-Content
208–142
Content
2026-03-05
Not-Content
214–142
Content
2026-02-04
Not-Content
62–295
Not-Content
Source: lordsvotes-api.parliament.uk. "Result" shows the headline
Content vs Not-Content tally (including tellers). The Lords doesn't
publish a "didn't vote" attendance roll like the Commons, so the
figure above conflates absence with abstention.
Recent Hansard contributions · latest 25
2026-07-23
Charities: Banking Services
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the challenges faced by charities in accessing ethical and appropriate banking services; and what steps they are taking to ensure that voluntary organisations can obtain reliable, affor
2026-07-23
Charities: Banking Services
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his thoughtful and considered reply. Many charities face slow, complicated and burdensome processes to change registered trustees on their accounts. According to the Charity Commission, a growing number of charities,
2026-07-21
Domestic Travel and Holidays: Visitor Levy
My Lords, I am a former chair of Core Cities UK, the group of the 10 largest cities outside of London. Core Cities campaigned long and hard for the power to introduce a discretionary visitor levy to fund the additional costs of tourism-related expendit
2026-07-20
Music Teachers: Recruitment
My Lords, the Government have introduced extremely welcome tax relief for orchestras, theatres, museums and galleries, but the outreach they undertake is not eligible for that tax relief, despite it being a potentially significant source of support for
2026-07-16
Future Capability of the Armed Forces
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Harlech, on securing this debate, which is essential to the future of our country. I thank him for his service, as I thank all our Armed Forces volunteers for theirs. I associate myself with many of the comm
My Lords, given that these mini-tender offers succeed precisely because some shareholders may not recognise that the price they are being offered is well below market value, and because the offer may well be put to them using high-pressure sales techniq
My Lords, the Bill sits squarely within the wider national security and preparedness agenda to which this House has repeatedly returned in recent months since the publication of the strategic defence review. We have spoken often about the interlocking na
My Lords, many of us on these Benches are supportive of British farming and congratulate our farmers on their excellent work in food production. But I have a question for my noble friend the Minister. It is entirely possible in the current system that mu
2026-07-01
Drink-Driving
My Lords, when I was 18, my parents’ car was hit head-on by a drunk driver. Both my parents survived, but my mother was left with life-changing injuries. I therefore warmly welcome the Government’s road safety strategy, especially the consultation under
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister share my concerns about the levels of stress and anxiety that this issue causes people who not only face huge practical and emotional challenges as a result of their terminal diagnosis but also find themselves
2026-06-09
Further Education Colleges: Recovery of VAT
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on further education colleges of their inability to recover VAT on expenditure; and what plans they have, if any, to address this disparity to create equality with other pub
2026-06-09
Further Education Colleges: Recovery of VAT
I thank my noble friend the Minister for that response. As he correctly identifies, since 2011, FE colleges, unlike councils, academies and almost all other public sector organisations, have been unable to reclaim VAT costs from the Government’s refund s
2026-06-09
Further Education Colleges: Recovery of VAT
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I draw attention to my role as president of Capital City College Group.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing abuse and intimidation on the recruitment, retention and wellbeing of local councillors; and what action they intend to take in response.
My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have expressed a wish to speak in this debate. I draw noble Lords’ attention to my role as a non-exec director at MHCLG.
Four years ago, when I left local government, there was growing concern about the r
2026-05-21
King’s Speech
My Lords, the gracious Speech puts national security where it belongs, at the centre of government. I welcome that, but the question before us is not only what we spend—it is how we think and act; how we organise a whole-society defence; how we turn resi
2026-04-14
Grenfell Tower Memorial (Expenditure) Bill
My Lords, first, I declare an interest and draw noble Lords’ attention to my role as a non-executive director at MHCLG, the lead department for this Bill. The Bill, as presented very ably by my noble friend the Minister, is short, tightly drawn and const
2026-03-19
Middle East
My Lords, I congratulate the Government on avoiding the pull towards an illegal and pointless conflict in the Middle East, despite the pressure brought to bear from some national and international corners. We have heard much about the impact of the confl
2026-03-03
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, I shall speak to the amendments in this group. For the record, I declare my interest as a trustee of Action on Smoking and Health.
First of all, I follow on from the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Young, around a road map. Surely a road ma
2026-03-03
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
I will come to that point in a moment and explain further. The TRIS process concluded on 18 February. The UK Government have provided a clear and satisfactory response to the concerns raised by member states, which I hope offers some reassurance to the n
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 on promoting economic growth and job creation in English regions and devolved nations.
My Lords, in warmly welcoming the Government’s commitment to significantly increasing defence expenditure and the opportunity to use this lever to promote economic growth, especially through the development of dual-use technologies and extended supply ch
2026-02-25
Local Government Reorganisation
My Lords, I declare an interest as a non-executive director of MHCLG. Can my noble friend the Minister remind the House of the original purpose of local government reorganisation? It is surely not just for the sake of it but for a wider purpose. Does she
2026-02-12
Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill
My Lords, I must begin my contribution to this debate with two formalities. First, I declare that I am an honorary member of the court of Newcastle University. In fact, I am a recent recipient of an honorary doctorate from Newcastle University—although I
2026-02-12
Security of Candidates, MPs and Elections
My Lords, does my noble friend the Minister share my concern about the rising tide of abuse in our politics being detrimental to the broadest range of candidates putting themselves forward? Does he share my concern that women in particular are severely d
Source: hansard.parliament.uk via hansard-api. Snippets shown
verbatim from the search API; click any debate title for the full record.
Register of Interests · 4 entries on file
Declarations under the Lords Code of Conduct. Free text — no monetary values, no hours worked. A declaration that an interest exists, not a claim about its size.
Category 1: Remunerated employment etc.
-
Director, Nick Forbes Consulting By Experience Ltd (personal service company) (clients are Strategy International Holdings Limited (strategic business development network); and Hellens Group Limited (housing and regeneration))
registered 2026-01-13 · amended 2026-02-05
-
Non-executive director, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
registered 2026-01-13
-
Non-executive director, Gentoo Group Limited (social housing association) (as part of this role the member is also director, Gentoo Developments Limited, and director, Gentoo Homes Limited)
registered 2026-01-13
Category 2: Shareholdings etc. (a)
-
Nick Forbes Consulting By Experience Ltd (personal service company)
registered 2026-01-13
Source: UK Parliament Members API (Lords register). Refreshed weekly.
Read the full
Lords Code of Conduct
for what each category covers and the disclosure thresholds.
Party history
2026-01-09 → present
Labour
current
Government posts
None recorded.
Opposition posts
None recorded.
Committee memberships
None recorded.
Contact
Parliamentary office
contactholmember@parliament.uk
020 7219 5353 · House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW
020 7219 5353 · House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW
APPGs (2026) · 0 active officership(s)
No APPG officerships found for this peer. (Officer matching is by name —
if the parliamentary register lists them under a slightly different
form, the join may miss; check
/appgs directly.)
Written parliamentary questions · 2026
No written questions tabled in 2026.
Bills sponsored & supported · 2026
0 bills
0 as lead sponsor
0 as supporter
No bills sponsored or supported in 2026.
Source: UK Parliament Bills API. "Lead" sponsor is the
primary mover (sortOrder = 1); "Supporter" rows are
members of either House who
backed the bill at introduction. Year is the bill's first-reading
date.
Historic bills (all-time)
0 bills
0 as lead sponsor
0 as supporter
No bills sponsored or supported on record.
Same source as the year-scoped panel above, but unconstrained by
year. The "Sponsored" tag = lead sponsor; "Supported" = backed at
introduction. Sorted newest first.