Sir Nicholas Dakin, born in July 1955, is a British Labour politician who has represented Scunthorpe in Parliament across two separate periods, first from 2010 to 2019 and again since 2024. During his parliamentary career, he has held several significant positions including Shadow Minister for Schools from 2015 to 2016 and Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in 2015. He also served as an opposition whip for extended periods between 2011 and 2019. Following Labour's return to government, Dakin was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing from 2024 to 2025, giving him direct ministerial responsibility for criminal justice policy.

Since September 2025, he has served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a senior government whip position within the Royal Household. Throughout his time in Parliament, Dakin has developed expertise in education policy, criminal justice and sentencing reform, and parliamentary procedure. He writes commentary for Comment Central on these and other political matters.