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Robert Jones (British politician)
Encyclopedia
Robert Brannock Jones was a British
Conservative Party
politician. He was Member of Parliament
(MP) for West Hertfordshire
for its 14-year existence, from its creation in 1983 until it was abolished in 1997. He served as a junior minister in the Department of the Environment
from 1994 to 1997.
Jones was born in Bedford
. His father was a civil engineer
. He was educated at St Martin's School in Northwood and the Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
. He read Modern History at St Andrews University, where he was a student politician. He organised the student union
to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students. While still a student, he was elected as a member of St Andrews Burgh Council from 1972 to 1975, and of Fife County Council from 1973 to 1975. He was also elected vice-chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students
in 1973. Aged only 24, he stood as Conservative candidate for Kirkcaldy
in the October 1974 general election
, losing to the incumbent Labour
MP Harry Gourlay
.
Jones became a marketing executive at Tay Textiles in Dundee
, and returned to England to become Head of Research at the National House Building Council
from 1976 to 1978. He then worked as parliamentary adviser to the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, and spent time working on housing policy at Conservative Central Office. He was a member of Chiltern District Council from 1979 to 1983, and contested Stockton-on-Tees
in the 1979 general election
: the safe Labour seat was retained by the sitting MP Bill Rodgers
. He wrote The Ratepayers Defence Manual in 1980. He was Vice-President of the Association of District Councils from 1983 to 1994.
Jones was finally elected at the 1983 general election
as Member of Parliament for the newly-created seat of West Hertfordshire, a constituency which largely comprised the town of Hemel Hempstead
. Nicholas Lyell
, the sitting Conservative MP for the predecessor seat of Hemel Hempstead
, moved to the safe seat of Mid Bedfordshire
to avoid an expected defeat. Strong support for the SDP
pushed the Labour candidate, Paul Boateng
, into third place allowing Jones to win comfortably.
Jones was a proponent of the free market
, associated with the Adam Smith Institute
and a member of the No Turning Back group, but he called for steps to address pollution as early as 1984. He served on the Commons environment select committee from 1983 to 1994, as its chairman from 1992 to 1994. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
(PPS) to the junior transport ministers Michael Spicer and Peter Bottomley
in 1986. His appointment as a government minister was delayed until July 1994, when John Major
appointed him as a junior minister
in the Department of the Environment
. He was promoted to Minister of State
for Construction, Planning and Energy Efficiency in 1995, remaining in that office until 1997.
His parliamentary constituency was abolished by boundary changes in 1997. He stood for the seat that replaced it, Hemel Hempstead, in the 1997 general election
, but lost to the Labour Co-operative
candidate, Tony McWalter
.
After leaving Parliament, Jones joined Redrow plc, a FTSE 250 listed construction firm, as a non-executive director
in 1997, serving as its chairman from 2000 to March 2007. He was also a non-executive director of retail park
operator Freeport plc from 1998. He was also a vice-president of the Wildlife Trust
, a Freeman of the City of London
, and a Liveryman
of the Merchant Taylors' Company.
Jones died in Tring
from liver cancer
aged 56. He was survived by his wife, Jenny Sandercock. She served as Mayor of Tring while he was an MP.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician. He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for West Hertfordshire
West Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
West Hertfordshire was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the first past the post system.-History:...
for its 14-year existence, from its creation in 1983 until it was abolished in 1997. He served as a junior minister in the Department of the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
from 1994 to 1997.
Jones was born in Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
. His father was a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
. He was educated at St Martin's School in Northwood and the Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
. He read Modern History at St Andrews University, where he was a student politician. He organised the student union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students. While still a student, he was elected as a member of St Andrews Burgh Council from 1972 to 1975, and of Fife County Council from 1973 to 1975. He was also elected vice-chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students
Federation of Conservative Students
The Federation of Conservative Students was the student organisation of the British Conservative Party from the late 1940s to 1986. It was created to act as a bridge between the student movement and the Conservative Party....
in 1973. Aged only 24, he stood as Conservative candidate for Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy (UK Parliament constituency)
Kirkcaldy was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Fife, returning one Member of Parliament . It existed from the February 1974 election until its abolition in 2005.-Boundaries:...
in the October 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, October 1974
The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...
, losing to the incumbent Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP Harry Gourlay
Harry Gourlay
Harry Philip Heggie Gourlay was a Scottish Labour Party politician.Gourlay was educated at Kirkcaldy High School and was a vehicles examiner...
.
Jones became a marketing executive at Tay Textiles in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, and returned to England to become Head of Research at the National House Building Council
National House Building Council
The National House Building Council was originally set up as the National House Builders Registration Council in the United Kingdom in 1936...
from 1976 to 1978. He then worked as parliamentary adviser to the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, and spent time working on housing policy at Conservative Central Office. He was a member of Chiltern District Council from 1979 to 1983, and contested Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees (UK Parliament constituency)
Stockton-on-Tees is a former borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
: the safe Labour seat was retained by the sitting MP Bill Rodgers
William Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank
William Thomas Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank, PC , usually known as William Rodgers but also often known as Bill Rodgers, was one of the "Gang of Four" of senior British Labour Party politicians who defected to form the Social Democratic Party...
. He wrote The Ratepayers Defence Manual in 1980. He was Vice-President of the Association of District Councils from 1983 to 1994.
Jones was finally elected at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
as Member of Parliament for the newly-created seat of West Hertfordshire, a constituency which largely comprised the town of Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
. Nicholas Lyell
Nicholas Lyell
Nicholas Walter Lyell, Baron Lyell of Markyate, PC QC was an English Conservative politician, known for much of his active political career as Sir Nicholas Lyell.-Early life:...
, the sitting Conservative MP for the predecessor seat of Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency)
Hemel Hempstead is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, moved to the safe seat of Mid Bedfordshire
Mid Bedfordshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Mid Bedfordshire is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
to avoid an expected defeat. Strong support for the SDP
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
pushed the Labour candidate, Paul Boateng
Paul Boateng
Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury...
, into third place allowing Jones to win comfortably.
Jones was a proponent of the free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
, associated with the Adam Smith Institute
Adam Smith Institute
The Adam Smith Institute, abbreviated to ASI, is a think tank based in the United Kingdom, named after one of the founders of modern economics, Adam Smith. It espouses free market and classical liberal views, in particular by creating radical policy options in the light of public choice theory,...
and a member of the No Turning Back group, but he called for steps to address pollution as early as 1984. He served on the Commons environment select committee from 1983 to 1994, as its chairman from 1992 to 1994. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
(PPS) to the junior transport ministers Michael Spicer and Peter Bottomley
Peter Bottomley
Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Worthing West...
in 1986. His appointment as a government minister was delayed until July 1994, when John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
appointed him as a junior minister
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
in the Department of the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
. He was promoted to Minister of State
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "minister of state" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister...
for Construction, Planning and Energy Efficiency in 1995, remaining in that office until 1997.
His parliamentary constituency was abolished by boundary changes in 1997. He stood for the seat that replaced it, Hemel Hempstead, in the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, but lost to the Labour Co-operative
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....
candidate, Tony McWalter
Tony McWalter
Tony McWalter is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was Labour Party and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Hemel Hempstead between 1997 and 2005.-Education:...
.
After leaving Parliament, Jones joined Redrow plc, a FTSE 250 listed construction firm, as a non-executive director
Non-executive director
A non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way...
in 1997, serving as its chairman from 2000 to March 2007. He was also a non-executive director of retail park
Retail park
In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated car parking. Its North American equivalent is a power centre. Retail parks are found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in highly accessible locations and are aimed at households...
operator Freeport plc from 1998. He was also a vice-president of the Wildlife Trust
Wildlife Trust
The term Wildlife Trust can be used in one of two senses to describe organisations concerned with wildlife:* in a specific sense, to refer to the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts in the United Kingdom, or one of its constituent members known as The Wildlife Trusts; a list of these can be found at...
, a Freeman of the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, and a Liveryman
Liveryman
For Livery Companies in the City of London, a Liveryman is a full member of their respective Company.Livery Company members fall into two basic categories: Freemen and Liverymen. One may join as a Freeman, and thereby acquire the "Freedom of the Company", upon fulfilling the Company's criteria...
of the Merchant Taylors' Company.
Jones died in Tring
Tring
Tring is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated north-west of London and linked to London by the old Roman road of Akeman Street, by the modern A41, by the Grand Union Canal and by rail lines to Euston Station, Tring is now largely a...
from liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
aged 56. He was survived by his wife, Jenny Sandercock. She served as Mayor of Tring while he was an MP.