Jason Alexander McCartney (born 29 January 1968) is a British
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 has been the
member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Colne Valley
The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield.
...
in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
since 2019, and from 2010 to 2017. He is a former TV sports reporter.
Early life and career
McCartney was born on 29 January 1968 in
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
,
to
Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
Robert McCartney and Jean McCartney. He was educated at
Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is a selective grammar school (day and boarding) for boys aged 11–18 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS i ...
and
RAF College,
Cranwell
Cranwell is a village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Cranwell and Byard's Leap and is situated approximately north-west from Sleaford and south-east from the city and county town o ...
. McCartney went on to serve as an officer in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
for nine years, fulfilling tours in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Turkey and Iraq. After reaching the rank of
Flight Lieutenant, he resigned his commission in 1997.
In 2011, he became Honorary President of the Huddersfield Branch of the
RAF Association
The Royal Air Forces Association (also called the RAF Association or RAFA) is the largest single service membership organization and the longest standing registered service charity that provides welfare support to the family of RAF members. Th ...
.
After studying for a postgraduate diploma in
broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
at
Leeds Trinity & All Saints, McCartney worked as a reporter for
BBC Radio Leeds, notably interviewing
Northern Ireland Secretary
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
Mo Mowlam
Dr Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam (18 September 1949 – 19 August 2005) was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mini ...
in 1997.
From 1998 until 2007, he worked as a presenter for
ITV Yorkshire
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...
, most notable on the regional
''Calendar'' news programme.
McCartney unsuccessfully stood as a
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
candidate for the
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 22,408.
History
T ...
ward of
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...
in 2006.
From 2008 to 2010, he was a senior lecturer at
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...
.
Member of Parliament
2010–2017
McCartney changed party affiliation, and was selected as the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
prospective parliamentary candidate for
Colne Valley
The Colne Valley is a steep sided valley on the east flank of the Pennine Hills in the English county of West Yorkshire. It takes its name from the River Colne which rises above the town of Marsden and flows eastward towards Huddersfield.
...
in March 2007. McCartney stood in the
2010 general election, taking the Colne Valley seat with a majority of 4,837
and replacing
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 ...
's incumbent
Kali Mountford
Carol Jean Mountford (née Newton; born 12 January 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Colne Valley from 1997 until she retired from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election.
Ear ...
. He gave his maiden speech on 17 June 2010 in a debate on the economy, expressing his support for local rural
Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
s.
In November 2010,
William Hague
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
appointed McCartney to the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...
UK Delegation. McCartney served on the
Transport Select Committee
The Transport Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Transport and its asso ...
from 10 June 2013 to 30 March 2015. He was also a member of the
1922 Committee
The 1922 Committee, formally known as the Conservative Private Members' Committee, is the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The committee, consisting of all Conservative backbench member ...
's Executive Committee from 2013 to 2017.
He was one of the few Conservative Members of Parliament who voted against an increase to the cap on university tuition fees and supported the need for a referendum on the EU. McCartney holds strong views on welfare, and consistently voted to reduce housing benefit, and generally voted against raising welfare benefits in line with prices. In the run up to the 2015 general election, McCartney took the unusual step of replying to a constituent who disagreed with the
Coalition's austerity plan with a letter recommending they backed the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
candidate instead. McCartney told the constituent he respected their differences of opinion but the Green Party candidate was "the only candidate who matches what you believe". Labour accused him of trying to split the left wing vote, whilst McCartney said he often put constituents in touch with political rivals if he believed it could help.
McCartney supported Brexit in the
2016 European Union membership referendum. He voted to reject an amendment to the Brexit bill which demanded an analysis of the impact of exiting the EU on the NHS.
McCartney was defeated by the
Labour Party candidate,
Thelma Walker
Thelma Doris Walker (born 7 April 1957) is a British politician, formerly the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Colne Valley from 2017 to 2019. Before her political career, she worked as a teacher for 34 years and later as an independ ...
, in the
2017 general election. After the loss he revealed that the prime minister,
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...
, had contacted him to apologise and accept responsibility for his defeat.
2019–present
McCartney returned to Parliament in the
2019 general election, winning back Colne Valley with a majority of 5,103. In May 2020, McCartney called for the resignation of Government Chief Advisor
Dominic Cummings
Dominic Mckenzie Cummings (born 25 November 1971) is a British political strategist who served as Chief Adviser to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson from 24 July 2019 until Cummings resigned on 13 November 2020.
From 2007 to 2014, he was a ...
.
In October 2020, McCartney was one of five Conservative MPs who broke the whip to vote for a Labour
opposition day motion to extend the provision of
free school meals
A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...
during school holidays until Easter 2021.
On 13 June 2022, McCartney was appointed
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Attorney General's Office.
Outside Parliament
From 2017 to 2019, McCartney was Head of Public Affairs at
Huddersfield University
, mottoeng = Thus not for you alone
, established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.47 million (2015)
, chancellor = George W. Buckley
, vice_chancell ...
. In 2018, he became a director of fairandfunky, a community interest company in Yorkshire.
He was a member of the One Community Foundation Trust from 2017 to 2019, and on the board of the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce from 2018 to 2019.
Personal life
McCartney lives in
Honley
__NOTOC__
Honley is a large village in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated near to Holmfirth and Huddersfield, and on the banks of the River Holme in the Holme Valley. According to the 201 ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
, and has two children.
He is a member of the
Royal Air Force Club
The Royal Air Force Club, or RAF Club in short-form, is a club located at 128 Piccadilly, London.
Membership is open to men and women who hold, or have held, commissions in the RAF, PMRAFNS, Reserve Forces and Commonwealth and friendly fore ...
, and lists his recreations as "
Huddersfield Town AFC,
Huddersfield Giants RLFC,
Yorkshire CCC
Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...
, tennis".
References
External links
Official websiteConservative Party profileColne Valley Conservatives*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCartney, Jason
1968 births
Living people
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2019–present
Royal Air Force officers
Alumni of Leeds Trinity University
Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians
People educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School