She was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Romsey and Southampton North in Hampshire in the 2010 general election.
From 2014 to 2015 she was Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions.
First elected as a Conservative, Nokes had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019 and sat as an independent politician until the whip was restored on 29 October.
Nokes served as Minister of State for Immigration from January 2018 to July 2019.