Andrew Hanson Jones is a British 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 who is the 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 the Harrogate and Knaresborough

Harrogate and Knaresborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Harrogate and Knaresborough 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:...

 constituency since 7 May 2010. He has been a member of Harrogate Borough Council

Harrogate (borough)

Harrogate is a local government district and borough of North Yorkshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate but it also includes surrounding towns and villages...

 for the High Harrogate ward since 2003. In 2007, he gained more than half of the votes in his ward. He is a passionate cricket fan and has been a member of Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....

 for over twenty years and enjoys walking in the surrounding countryside. He chaired the influential Conservative think-tank the Bow Group

Bow Group

The Bow Group is one of the oldest think tanks in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the Bow area of London where it first met, it was founded in 1951...

 from 1999 to 2000.

Career

Born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England Jones was elected councillor for the High Harrogate Ward in 2003. He soon rose to the council cabinet to be Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources. During his time in this role, Jones drove efficiency savings to the sum total of £5 million and has eliminated almost all of the council debt which he inherited. This was achieved by changing council policy to add an extra £1.2 million of added income. Moreover, this was achieved whilst freezing council tax. Andrew, hailed as a 'local champion' by The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, has long supported many local campaigns such as promoting Fairtrade and protecting green open spaces against Labour housing initiatives. Most well known locally was his successful campaign to preserve the historical and iconic Royal Hall and Starbeck Baths, now thriving due to their restorations backed by Jones.

Member of Parliament

On 6 May 2010, Jones was elected MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough ending 13 years of Liberal Democrat control. He secured this with a 9.1% swing. Jones has dedicated himself to promoting a new high speed rail link connecting to London in Harrogate to promote commerce in the region. He also has campaigned to increase police presence on the streets, promote recycling, support pensioners and preserve the NHS in his area. Jones made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 22 June 2010.