My backstory
I grew up on the Isle of Wight and attended local comprehensive schools, afterwards securing an apprenticeship with a local small business. I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and competed in tetrathlons across the UK incorporating running, shooting, swimming and cross-country horse trials.
Fortunate to grow-up in the countryside, I’m a keen bird watcher, nature admirer and animal lover - and proud to be a former Chairman of my Young Farmers group. Over the years I have kept and bred pedigree Hampshire Down Sheep, Jersey Cows, Racing Pigeons and most notably of all pure breeds of Poultry. Aged 15 I passed my first poultry judging test, and aged 23 became the UK’s youngest fully-qualified poultry judge – I have since judged the length and breadth of the UK, and officiated at shows in Germany and the United States. Since 2019 I have edited international poultry magazine ‘Fancy Fowl’.
Further to working in Parliament for two different MPs – Maria Caulfield and Mims Davies – in 2021 I started working for the National Trust - now Europe's largest conservation organisation. As Parliamentary Officer I liaise with MPs, Peers and Ministers over the work of the National Trust, arranging visits to National Trust places and organising events in Parliament on everything from celebrating Churchill and Chartwell to creating a buzz about blossom.
Career Background
While as a youngster I sold my eggs at the end of our lane, in what I called at the time ‘Jed’s Eggs’, my first job was between my GCSEs and my A Levels, working for a landscape gardening firm. Finishing my A Levels I secured an apprenticeship with a family-run Letting Agency ‘Maher Ross’ which had been set-up just a few years earlier. On completing my formal apprenticeship I took on a full-time role with Maher Ross.
A keen interest in politics, I joined the Conservative Party at the age of 15, took part in various political campaigns and was elected myself as a Councillor. I’d always hoped to one day work in Westminster, although at this point that seemed a far cry for someone like me and from my background. At the 2015 General Election I spent a week campaigning in 10 marginal constituencies, each returning a Conservative MP at the election. Afterwards one of those MPs Maria Caulfield offered me a role in her office. I spent two years with Maria and her team before moving on to the office of Mims Davies writing speeches, liaising with her Ministerial Office and focusing on comms and policy work.
Having worked in MPs offices for four and a half years, at the 2019 General Election I decided it was time to move out of Parliament and successfully secured my current role with the National Trust, on top of my other role as Editor of Fancy Fowl Magazine.
Community and Councillor Work
Serving as a parish Councillor on the Isle of Wight, my proudest achievement was securing an hourly bus route for my villages, where beforehand they had had no service at all. This helped both older residents to get around, vitally tackling social isolation, while at the same time helping younger people to get to school, college and work.
After moving to Haywards Heath in West Sussex in 2015, a year later I was elected as a Conservative Councillor, receiving over 60% of the vote in a by-election. As a local Councillor by far the largest local issue was over-development, working with the Conservative-run council to deliver new homes that reflected the character of the local area and that were accompanied by key infrastructure and green spaces.
In 2018, having moved to Sutton on the London/Surrey border, I won a council seat from the Lib Dems, working closely with the local Neighbourhood Watch, successfully securing the future and improvement of local parks and green spaces and ensuring lefty plans to shut off local roads in a bid to punish the motorist were abandoned. During my time on the local authority I was proud to serve on the Environment and Neighbourhood Committee, holding the Lib Dem administration to account on everything from the incinerator they imposed on the community to bin collections and the borough’s dwindling leisure and culture offer.
During this period I successfully supported the campaign to gain Carshalton and Wallington – one of two constituencies within the borough – from 22 year Lib Dem incumbent Tom Brake at the 2019 General Election. I also served as Chairman of the Conservative Federation, overseeing the boroughs best ever London Assembly and Mayoral Election results in 2021, and a year later our local elections when we were the only area in the country to make net-gains against the Lib Dems in all-out elections.
In 2023 I moved to Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, being elected as a Borough Councillor for Chipstead, Kingswood, Woodmansterne and Burgh Heath at the local elections that year. Despite a challenging set of elections nationally I increased the Conservative majority and share of the vote and campaigned to ensure we held our most marginal wards. After the election, Reigate and Banstead became the only majority-controlled Conservative Council in the whole of Surrey. As a Councillor I serve on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Licensing Committee. Within the community I regularly attend each of the four Resident Association meetings, take part in litter picking activities and support local charity events, village fetes and fundraisers.
Charity Work
In my mid-teens I organised a Charity Open Day for consecutive years, raising over £800 each year for charities including the Royal Isle of Wight Agricultural Society. I served as Chairman of the Isle of Wight Young Farmers, on the committee of the Isle of Wight County Show, as an NFU Delegate and as a Board Member and Trustee of the Poultry Club of Great Britain.
Following my older brother Daniel tragically taking his own life I have supported the work of various mental health charities - including Samaritans - as well as the RNLI, and have spoken on the subject numerous times including on the Main Stage at Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
During the pandemic like so many others I fetched shopping for those shielding, delivered PPE across my community and took up a role as a mentor to a young person through a Sutton-based charity MAPS mentoring.
In my current role I’ve worked to ensure national policy makers continue to be aware of the significant role the charity sector play in communities across the country, including the financial value of civil society.