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Stewart James Jackson (born 31 January 1965) is a British politician who is the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough.

Early life

Jackson was born in Woolwich and brought up in South East London. He attended the London Nautical School in Lambeth, and Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate, Kent. He studied at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he was awarded a BA (Hons) degree in Economics & Public Administration in 1988. He also earned an MA in Human Resource Management from University of West London in 2001, and is a Graduate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Before joining Business Link, Jackson worked for Lloyds Bank for nine years, and ran his own branch as a Branch Manager in London's West End, as well as being a small business manager. He was a board member and Trustee of the London City YMCA for five years.

Prior to being elected, Jackson was a Business Services Manager with Business Link in London.

Political career

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, on which he served until his election to the House of Commons for Peterborough. Jackson is widely regarded by colleagues of all parties to be an expert on local government, particularly on issues surrounding planning, urban regeneration and urban renewal. He is Vice-President of the Local Government Association. He also sits on the Board of Management of the local government think tank the New Local Government Network.

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 7323 votes to 2854 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. He was re-elected at the 2010 general election.

In the House of Commons, Jackson was a member of the Regulatory Reform Select Committee and from 11 December 2006, the Health Select Committee leaving it in July 2007 when he became an Opposition Whip. He was Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan from 2007–2010. In January 2008, he became Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, with responsibility for the fire service, flooding, housing renewal areas and the Thames Gateway. He was unanimously readopted as the Conservative candidate for the Peterborough constituency by the Executive Council of the Peterborough Conservative Association in July 2007.

In the General Election held on 6 May 2010, Stewart Jackson increased his majority to 4,861 votes over the Labour candidate, Ed Murphy and was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in June 2010, a position he resigned from on 24 October 2011, after he voted against a three-line whip on an EU referendum. He was elected to the Commons Public Accounts Committee in February 2012.

Together with other centre right Tory MPs such as Nadine Dorries, Jackson assisted in establishing the "Conservative Voice" parliamentary grouping led by the former Defence Secretary Liam Fox and David Cameron's principal opponent to win the leadership of the Tory Party, David Davis. 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 has stated that he will vote against the government's legislation to introduce same-sex marriage, and controversially accused his party leader of being "arrogant" for pressing ahead with it.

Jackson was unanimously readopted by the Peterborough Conservative Association at their Annual General Meeting on 8 March 2013 as the Parliamentary candidate for the seat to contest the 2015 General Election.

Parliamentary expenses

In May 2009, Jackson's Parliamentary expenses were scrutinised in the expenses scandal. Articles in the Daily Telegraph reported that Jackson had claimed more than £66,000 in three financial years for housing costs in his constituency: on 11 May 2009 the newspaper reported that he had claimed £11,000 in professional, legal and mortgage fees on buying a new constituency home. However, Jackson explained that there were legitimate 'one-off costs' relating to the purchasing of a home base in the constituency after his election as an MP, and until the house was purchased, he, his wife and infant daughter were renting one bedroomed accommodation in the constituency. 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. 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". David Cameron, leader of Jackson's Conservative Party, declared himself appalled at the raft of revelations made by the Telegraph relating to claims submitted by some of his parliamentary party colleagues, and stated that disciplinary action could be taken against those who had acted illegally or outside of the rules. However, no action was taken against Jackson by either his party or Parliamentary authorities, who deemed his expense claims to be legal and within the rules.

In May 2013, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority issued a High Court action in an attempt to recover £54,000 in alleged Capital Gains arising from Jackson's Pererborough home, even though he continues to live in the home as his sole family residence and has not sold it and therefore made no profit.

Personal life

In July 1999, Jackson married Sarah O'Grady, Social Affairs and Property Correspondent with the Daily Express, at the College Chapel at Royal Holloway in Egham, Surrey. The couple have one daughter (born 2005), and live in central Peterborough.

Attack

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. His attacker got away, but only after kicking the MP. Cambridgeshire Police subsequently arrested a twenty-year-old man in connection with the incident who was subsequently found guilty of assault and criminal damage at Peterborough Magistrates Court.

References

1. Election highs for Royal Holloway alumni, www.rhul.ac.uk
2. "LGA vice-presidents". Local Government Association.
3. Kirkup, James (20 October 2011). "Tories threaten resignation over EU vote ban". The Daily Telegraph. London.
4. Mason, Rowena; Bingham, John (7 December 2012). "David Cameron warned Lords will 'massacre' gay marriage laws". The Daily Telegraph. London.
5. ^ Stewart Jackson UK. 6/2/2009 http://www.stewartjackson.org.uk/news.html?bM=6&bD=2&bY=2009&bT=269. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. Swaine, Jon (12 May 2009). "MPs' expenses: Stewart Jackson admits claim for pool work was 'excessive'". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
7. Sawer, Patrick (29 August 2009). "MPs' expenses: MPs who milked the expenses system now complain about attempts to reform it". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
8. Andrew Sparrow and agencies (13 October 2009). "Gordon Brown and David Cameron threaten disciplinary action as MPs' anger mounts over expenses | Politics | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
9. Swinford, Stephen (9 May 2013). "Expenses watchdog sues Tory MP over second home". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
10. "Peterborough MP attacked by bus shelter vandal". BBC. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
11. "Tory MP Stewart Jackson 'kicked' as he tries to be have-a-go-hero". Metro. Associated Newspapers Limited. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
12. "Man, 20, due in court after Tory MP is injured trying to stop alleged vandal 'smashing up a bus shelter'". Mail Online. London: Associated Newspapers Limited. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

External links

• Stewart Jackson MP official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Stewart Jackson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Stewart Jackson MP

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• 1965 births
• Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London
• Alumni of the University of West London
• People educated at the London Nautical School
• Conservative Party (UK) MPs
• Councillors in Ealing
• Councillors in Greater London
• People educated at Chatham House Grammar School
• People from Peterborough
• People from Woolwich
• Living people
• Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
• UK MPs 2005–10
• UK MPs 2010–