Gerald Vernon-Jackson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 10 January 1962) is a Liberal Democrat politician in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

, England. He has been the leader of

Portsmouth City Council Portsmouth City Council is the local authority of the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government s ...

since 15 May 2018, having previously been leader between 2004–2014, and councillor for Milton Ward since 2003.

Personal life

Vernon-Jackson was born in Hampshire, England. He is the son of Jean Vernon-Jackson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language of t ...

, former Chairman of Hampshire County Council and New Forest District Council, and a graduate of the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

and

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

with a bachelor's degree in History and a Master's in Social Care, respectively.

Political career

Vernon-Jackson was an elected member of the Newbury Council from 1995 to 2003, where he served as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats group. During this period, he served as Head of Office for Newbury MP David Rendel, and the Deputy Director of Campaigns of the Liberal Democrats. He would also contest the European Parliament Election, 1999 as 8th member of the Liberal Democrats list for the South East England constituency, ahead of future MEP

Catherine Bearder Catherine Zena Bearder (née Bailey; born 14 January 1949) is a British Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament between 2 July 2014 and 12 November 2019. She ...

. In 2003 he was elected to Milton Ward and assumed the Deputy Leadership of the Portsmouth Liberal Democrats Group. In 2004 he became Leader of the Council, a position he held until the 2014 council election. During this period, the Liberal Democrat administration was accused of covering up an independent report into allegations of sexual harassment made against then-MP Mike Hancock, Vernon-Jackson himself having dismissed the accusations as being motivated by possible financial gain. Following a spell in opposition, after the 2018 council election, Vernon-Jackson reassumed Leadership of the Council in a minority administration with the support of the Labour Party council group. Since reassuming leadership, Vernon-Jackon's second administration caused controversy due to its decision to pursue the closure of Victory Energy, pursued the development of Tipner West, sought and received approval for the development of the Horsea Island Country Park and took charge of Council preparations for Brexit. In a letter to

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parl ...

, minister in charge of no-deal Brexit planning, Vernon-Jackson accused the Government of underestimating the potential strife caused by a no-deal Brexit to Portsmouth docks. During his time in opposition, Vernon-Jackson ran for the Portsmouth South constituency, first in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

to succeed Mike Hancock, and then again in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

in an attempt to retake the constituency for the Liberal Democrats, however was defeated in both attempts by

Flick Drummond Felicia Jane "Flick" Beatrix Drummond (born 16 June 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Meon Valley since 2019, having previously represented Portsmouth South from 2015 to 2017. ...

and Stephen Morgan, respectively. He stood again in

Portsmouth South Portsmouth South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Stephen Morgan of the Labour Party. Morgan is the first Labour MP to represent the seat. Boundaries 1918–1950: The County Borough ...

at the 2019 election, initially placed first in constituency polling against Labour and the Conservative candidates in a poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, however successive polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats for the constituency would see Vernon-Jackson slip into third place, where he would ultimately poll on election day. In 2016, Vernon-Jackson was awarded a

for his services to local government. From 2012 to 2017, Vernon-Jackson served as Vice Chair & Lib Dem Group Leader on the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

. Since January 2020, Vernon-Jackson has been a member of the Liberal Democrats Federal Board, and he was Chair of the English Liberal Democrats from February 2020 to December 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon-Jackson, Gerald 1962 births Living people Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Southampton Commanders of the Order of the British Empire LGBT politicians from England Gay politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Councillors in Hampshire Politicians from Portsmouth Leaders of local authorities of England People educated at Walhampton School and Hordle House School