Jason McCartney (politician)


Jason Alexander McCartney is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Colne Valley in West Yorkshire since 2019, and from 2010 to 2017. He is a former TV sports reporter.

Early life and career

McCartney was born in January 1968 in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School. He went on to serve as an officer in the Royal Air Force for nine years, fulfilling tours in Las Vegas, Turkey and Iraq. After reaching the rank of Flight Lieutenant, he resigned his commission in 1997.
After studying for a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism, McCartney worked as a reporter for BBC Radio Leeds, notably interviewing Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam in 1997. From 1998 he worked as a presenter on ITV's Calendar News.
McCartney stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate for the Pudsey ward of Leeds City Council in 2006.
He then changed party affiliation and was selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Colne Valley in March 2007.

Member of Parliament

2010–2017

McCartney stood in the 2010 general election, taking the Colne Valley seat with a majority of 4,837 and replacing Labour's Kali Mountford. He gave his maiden speech on 17 June 2010 in a debate on the economy, expressing his support for local rural Post Offices.
In November 2010, William Hague appointed McCartney to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly UK Delegation. McCartney served on the Transport Committee between 2013 and 2015.
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 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, in the 2017 general election. After the loss he revealed that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, 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.

Personal life

McCartney lives in Honley, West Yorkshire, and has two children.

Electoral history