Jason McCartney

Jason McCartney was one of several former Conservative MPs to return to parliament after the 2019 general election. Born in Harrogate, he is a former Royal Air Force officer, having served tours in Las Vegas, Turkey, Gibraltar, Germany, Cyprus and Iraq. After leaving the RAF, McCartney studied Broadcast Journalism at Leeds Trinity University and soon after worked at BBC Radio Leeds ad then ITV Yorkshire, where he was the weekend presenter for Calendar News and Sport. In 2006, he stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal Democrat for Pudsey ward on Leeds City Council. The following year, he was selected as the Conservative candidate for Colne Valley and won the seat at the election three years later. Soon after entering parliament, he appointed to the UK Delegation for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and later served on the House of Commons Transport Committee. He backed Vote Leave in the 2016 general election and the following year was narrowly defeated at the general election by Labour’s Thelma Walker. He then spent two years as the public affairs head at the University of Huddersfield before winning his seat back in the 2019 general election by a comfortable majority of 5,103.

Hot Seat

What is your proudest political achievement, both at constituency and national level?

Representing my home area in Parliament.

What domestic issues or reforms are of most concern to you?

Northern Agenda, Mental Health, Environment.

Which foreign affairs issues are of most importance to you?

Kurdistan Region in Iraq (where I served as an Officer in the RAF), Kashmir.