A Labour MP has launched a campaign calling for 2026 to be marked as the “Summer of Sex,” arguing for more open and inclusive conversations around sexual health, relationships, and pleasure.
Samantha Niblett, the MP for Derbyshire South, is promoting the initiative under the slogan “Yes Sex Please, We’re British!”, saying the UK needs to reduce stigma around sexuality and improve lifelong sex education.
She said the campaign is intended to normalise discussion of sex as a “natural” part of life, and to encourage a more positive and health-focused approach to sexual wellbeing across all age groups.
Niblett is working with sextech entrepreneur Cindy Gallop, founder of the adult content platform MakeLoveNotPorn, which promotes what she describes as an alternative to mainstream pornography.
Speaking to PoliticsHome, Niblett said she hopes to “make 2026 the Summer of Sex” as part of a broader push to modernise attitudes and improve public health messaging around relationships and intimacy.
As part of the campaign, she has also floated the idea of introducing sex toys into Parliament as a way of prompting discussion about sexual wellbeing, although any such proposal would likely face security restrictions.
She added that sexual health education should extend beyond schools, arguing that adults also benefit from clearer, more open conversations about intimacy and wellbeing.
The proposal is likely to generate political debate, with supporters framing it as a progressive public health initiative, while critics are expected to question its tone and appropriateness in Parliament.
Niblett said: “The first time I remember seeing pornography, I was 10, I saw it on a videotape, I saw it in magazines.
“And I sometimes wonder, having seen it so young but without being able to talk about it, whether that has shaped the person that I am today. It’s funny, just because I’m doing a campaign on sex education, it’s not because I’m this massively empowered, sexually flamboyant person. I’m not. I wish I were.
“If I could rewire my brain… It’s not too late, I’m hoping that, actually, this summer of sex is also an education for me.”
“It was all focused on what you shouldn’t do, not what you should do,” she added. “Pleasure certainly didn’t play a part in it. And as a girl, you’re just worried about either getting an STD or getting pregnant. I don’t remember talking about contraception much either.”
She said: “The sections that I always prefer the most are the intimate sections. I am not saying that anybody else’s preferences are wrong, but I think if you’re desensitised to think that some things are normal, it skews your view about what real sex is like with real people who are not acting in a porn film.”
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