Christopher Murray Jackson (24 May 1935 – 13 December 2019) was a British businessman and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 1979 to 1994. After a National Service Commission in the RAF as a pilot, Jackson read physics at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, of which he was an Open Exhibitioner. Whilst there he founded the Magnates Club which eventually became the Oxford University Guild Society. He then trained in management with

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

, becoming a senior manager of the Group in 1967. He contested East Ham South as a Conservative in the 1970 General Election and Northampton North in 1974. He was Director of Corporate Development of the Spillers Group from 1974 to 1979. He was elected as the Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

for Kent East from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

(the first European Parliament Elections) to

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he served as Conservative Spokesman on Development Policy; Agriculture; Economic Affairs and Foreign Affairs. In 1984 he proposed the inclusion of

subsidiarity Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines subsidi ...

in the Draft

Treaty on European Union The Treaty on European Union (2007) is one of the primary Treaties of the European Union, alongside the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The TEU form the basis of EU law, by setting out general principles of the EU's pu ...

and led a European Parliament delegation, including

Altiero Spinelli Altiero Spinelli (31 August 1907 – 23 May 1986) was an Italian politician, political theorist and European federalist, referred to as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. A communist and militant anti-fascist in his youth, he spe ...

to the UK for discussions on the Draft Treaty with the Conservative,

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties, the CBI and the TUC. He was a Member of the ACP-

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

Joint Assembly of which he was Rapporteur-General in 1985. He became Deputy Leader of Conservative MEPs in 1989, remaining in that position until 1991, and Co-President of the EP Working Group on Population and Development. From 1995 to 2002 he was Chairman of CJA Consultants Ltd and from 1997 to 2003 Chairman of Natural Resources International Ltd. He left the Conservative Party in 1999 and rejoined in 2007. He is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs ( Chatham House) and of the Athenaeum Club. Jackson has also been the Chairman of Governors of Bethany School,

Goudhurst Goudhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. It lies in the Weald, around south of Maidstone, on the crossroads of the A262 and B2079. The parish consists of three wards: Goudhurst, Kilndown and ...

since 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Christopher 1935 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for England 1984–1989 MEPs for England 1989–1994 Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Royal Air Force officers Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Chatham House people