The Lord Jackson of Peterborough | |
---|---|
Special Adviser and chief of staff to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union | |
In office 26 July 2017 –9 July 2018 [1] | |
Secretary | David Davis |
Preceded by | James Chapman |
Succeeded by | Nick de Bois |
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union | |
In office 22 July 2016 –8 June 2017 | |
Prime Minister | Theresa May |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Gareth Johnson |
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
Assumed office 16 November 2022 Life Peerage | |
Member of Parliament for Peterborough | |
In office 5 May 2005 –3 May 2017 | |
Preceded by | Helen Clark |
Succeeded by | Fiona Onasanya |
Personal details | |
Born | Stewart James Jackson 31 January 1965 Woolwich,London,UK |
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Sarah O'Grady |
Children | Isabel Jackson |
Alma mater | Royal Holloway,University of London;University of West London |
Website | Official website |
Stewart James Jackson,Baron Jackson of Peterborough (born 31 January 1965) is a British politician and adviser. Jackson served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough from 2005 to 2017. After being ousted by Labour's Fiona Onasanya at the 2017 general election,he served as Chief of Staff,and Special Adviser to David Davis,Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union,until July 2018 when Davis resigned his position.
Jackson was born in Woolwich and brought up in south-east London. He was educated at the London Nautical School in Lambeth,and Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate,Kent,Jackson worked part time at Margate McDonald's in 1983,whilst studying and living in Thanet.,followed by Royal Holloway,University of London,where he was awarded a BA (Hons) degree in Economics &Public Administration,in 1988. [2] Jackson was elected President of the University of London Union for the 1988–89 academic year. During his tenure as president,he faced a no-confidence motion in January 1989,and resigned before he was required to leave office. [3]
Jackson served on Ealing Borough Council in west London from 1990 to 1998,during which time he was Conservative Party spokesman on planning and housing. He is Vice-President of the Local Government Association. [4]
Jackson unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary constituency of Brent South at the 1997 general election. He was then selected as the Conservative candidate for the Peterborough seat in October 2000,and fought the 2001 general election,where he reduced the Labour Party's majority in the constituency from 7,323 votes to 2,854 votes,but lost to the incumbent Labour MP Helen Brinton. Jackson was re-adopted as the Conservative candidate for Peterborough in August 2002,and defeated Brinton at the 2005 general election to become the MP.
In the 2010 general election,held on 6 May,Jackson increased his majority to 4,861 votes over the Labour candidate,Ed Murphy;he was appointed the following month as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Owen Paterson,the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,but resigned as PPS on 24 October 2011,after voting against a three-line whip on an EU referendum. [5]
Following Theresa May's selection as the new Conservative Prime Minister,following David Cameron's resignation,Stewart Jackson was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Davis,the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union,in July 2016. [6]
Following the loss of his seat at the 2017 general election,Jackson was appointed Special Advisor and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union. [7] On 25 April 2022 Stewart Jackson was appointed to the role of High Speed 2 Residents' Commissioner. [8]
It was announced on 14 October 2022,that as part of Boris Johnson's 2022 Political Honours,Jackson would be appointed a life peer. [9] On 16 November 2022,Jackson was created Baron Jackson of Peterborough,of Peterborough in the County of Cambridgeshire. [10]
Together with other MPs on the Conservative right wing,such as Nadine Dorries,Jackson assisted in establishing the Conservative Voice parliamentary grouping led by David Davis (David Cameron's principal opponent in the contest to win the leadership of the Conservative Party) and Liam Fox (former secretary of state for defence). In explaining his decision to join the new right-wing grouping,Jackson said that he hoped it could "get Cameron back on election-winning ground" and away from the "current social liberal mush". He stated that he would vote against the government's legislation to introduce same-sex marriage,and accused his party leader of being "arrogant" for pressing ahead with it. [11]
In 2013,he opposed David Cameron's plan to arm the Syrian rebels. [12]
In 2014,Jackson,along with six other Conservative Party MPs,voted against the Equal Pay (Transparency) Bill,which would have required all companies with more than 250 employees to declare the gap in pay between the average male and average female salaries. [13]
Jackson opposed the 2013 bill to allow gay marriage. In March 2015,he told a lesbian constituent:"The feeling's fully mutual. Please feel free to never bother me again" after she requested to be removed from his campaign mailing list because she disagreed with his position on the act. [14] [15]
In March 2015,Jackson attracted media attention for his response to a constituent which was subsequently circulated on social media. Jackson's email told the constituent “The feeling’s fully mutual. Please feel free to never bother me again”after she requested to be removed from his campaign mailing list because she disagreed with his opposition to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. [16]
On 26 June 2016,Rupert Myers,a political correspondent for The Times ,tweeted about the outcome of the Referendum of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union "I can't get over the fact that the winning side lied about a whole bunch of stuff &yet expect us to live cheerfully with the result". Stewart Jackson replied from his verified Twitter account "Suck it up whiner...". [17]
Jackson attracted attention in October 2016,when he used Twitter to state that patriots should not subscribe to The Economist ,a liberal,free-market magazine,because of its arguments about the problems leaving the EU would entail. [18]
After losing his seat in 2017,Jackson contacted a former constituent who had been critical of him on Facebook to call him a "thick chav",and also wrote:"If you print any shit about me on Facebook in the future you will regret it." [19]
In October 2018,Jackson,who is known for his pro-Brexit views,was again criticised after tweeting:"What a pathetic cretin" in response to a picture of an ill child with a duvet depicting the European Union flag. The child was recovering from an operation at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Jackson subsequently said,after deleting the initial tweet,that he was referring to the child's stepfather rather than the child himself. [20] The Science Minister,Sam Gyimah,criticised the tweet,saying:"No one can take credibly or seriously people who use that language." [21] Heidi Allen,another Conservative MP,responded by describing Jackson as "a pathetic,unkind and nasty man." [22]
Since losing his seat in 2017,Jackson has made several attempts at a political comeback,though has failed to be selected multiple times.
Ahead of the 2019 General Election,he attempted to be selected for the safe seat of Sevenoaks in Kent,losing to Laura Trott. [23]
In 2020,he stood to be the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner,losing to eventual winner Daryll Preston. [24] He lost the selection by a margin of two votes despite the endorsement of Home Secretary Priti Patel.
On 12 May 2009, both BBC Newsnight , and a second article published by The Daily Telegraph reported that Jackson had claimed £55,000 on housing costs for the constituency house, bringing the total sum to over £66,000. [25] When asked about how MPs should be housed in their constituencies, Jackson was quoted in The Daily Telegraph as saying that any ban on the second home allowance would be "draconian and unfair". [26]
In May 2013, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) issued a High Court action in an attempt to recover £54,000 in alleged notional Capital Gains arising from Jackson's Peterborough home. [27]
IP addresses from inside the Houses of Parliament have often edited the Wikipedia biographies of politicians including Jackson in an attempt to remove details on the parliamentary expenses scandal, [28] and attempts have been made to remove details of Jackson's interaction with a lesbian constituent. [29] Ben Riley-Smith, a correspondent for The Daily Telegraph , argues that it is impossible to prove that changes are made by staff of any particular MP. [28]
In July 2012, Jackson attempted to tackle a vandal in Peterborough. Jackson, who was shopping with his wife and daughter, tried to perform a citizen's arrest after seeing a bus shelter being vandalised. The vandal got away, but only after kicking the MP. Cambridgeshire Constabulary subsequently arrested a twenty-year-old man in connection with the incident who was later found guilty of assault and criminal damage at Peterborough Magistrates Court. [30] [31]
Sir David Michael Davis is a British politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 to 2008 and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2016 to 2018. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice and Howden, formerly Boothferry, since 1987. Davis was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1997 New Year Honours, having previously been Minister of State for Europe from 1994 to 1997.
Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst,, is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017, having previously represented Middleton and Prestwich from 1970 to 1974. Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means from 14 May 1997 to 8 June 2010, and later Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2011 and 2014. The oldest Conservative MP to stand down at the 2017 general election, he was created a Life Peer in May 2018, sitting in the House of Lords as Baron Haselhurst.
Nigel Martin Evans is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ribble Valley in Lancashire since 1992. He was Joint Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee from 2017 to 2019. He served as First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means, one of the Speaker's three deputies, from 2010 to 2013. He was elected as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means in 2020.
Timothy Paul Loughton, is a British politician and former banker who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham since the 1997 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families from 2010 to 2012 and has twice served as the Acting Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2016 and 2021, following the respective resignations of Keith Vaz and Yvette Cooper.
Sir William David Wiggin is a British Conservative Party politician, and a former Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Herefordshire, previously Leominster, since the 2001 general election.
Sir Robert James MacGillivray Neill KC (Hon) is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromley and Chislehurst since a by-election on 29 June 2006, following the death of the previous incumbent Eric Forth. He served as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Communities and Local Government from 14 May 2010 to 4 September 2012. He is the current Chair of Parliament's Justice Select Committee.
Robert John Blackman is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Joint Executive Secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee since 2012. Blackman was the Member of the London Assembly (MLA) for Brent and Harrow between 2004 and 2008.
Stephen William Hammond is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wimbledon since 2005. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
Sir Jeremy Paul Wright is a British lawyer and politician who served as Attorney General for England and Wales from 2014 to 2018 and as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kenilworth and Southam, previously Rugby and Kenilworth, since the 2005 general election.
Sir Michael Alan Penning is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hemel Hempstead since 2005.
John Douglas Wilson Carswell is a British former politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 2005 to 2017, co-founded Vote Leave and currently serves as president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.
Shailesh Lakhman Vara is a Ugandan-British politician, who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire since 2005.
David Michael Gauke is a British political commentator, solicitor and former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019. He served in the Cabinet under Theresa May, most notably as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from 2018 to 2019. First elected as a Conservative, Gauke had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019 and until the dissolution sat as an independent politician.
Sarah Wollaston is a British former Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Totnes from 2010 to 2019. First elected for the Conservative Party, she later served as a Change UK and Liberal Democrat MP. She was chair of the Health Select Committee from 2014 to 2019 and chair of the Liaison Committee from 2017 to 2019.
Karl Ian McCartney is a British politician who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport from July to September 2022. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Lincoln. He was first elected at the 2010 general election and represented the constituency until he was defeated by Labour's Karen Lee at the 2017 general election. He was re-elected at the 2019 general election.
Guto ap Owain Bebb is a Welsh politician and former business consultant who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberconwy from 2010 to 2019, having previously lost elections to the Welsh Assembly and the House of Commons. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Wales Office in 2016–2018 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence from January 2018 until he resigned in July 2018. First elected as a Conservative, Bebb had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019 and served his remaining months as an independent.
Andrew John Stevenson is a British Conservative Party politician and active solicitor and director for the firms Bendles and Tiffen Estate Agents, who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlisle.
Scott Leslie Mann is a British Conservative politician and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cornwall since 2015. He currently serves as a Government Whip. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Growth and Rural Affairs from September to October 2022. Previously he represented the Wadebridge West ward on Cornwall Council between 2009 and 2016.
Kevin Paul Hollinrake is a British Conservative politician and businessman. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk and Malton since May 2015 and has been serving as Minister of State for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business since October 2022.
Paul Bristow is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough since the 2019 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he worked as a public relations consultant and was the chairman of the lobbying trade body, the Association of Professional Political Consultants, prior to his parliamentary career. Bristow was also a councillor on Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council between 2006 and 2010.