Jonathan Harris is the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Daventry

Biography:

Jonathan has lived at the heart of Daventry constituency since 1998 and currently serves the Brixworth Ward as a Councillor at West Northants Council.

He has an extensive career in leadership development and change management and has worked with many different types of organisations across multiple sectors including Engineering, Retail, Financial Services, Construction, and the Motor Industry to name a few. He continues to work both within the UK, Mainland Europe and Internationally. 

Jonathan wants to build on his experience in local government and fight for causes that are meaningful to everyone in the Daventry Constituency, particularly the cost of living, rural isolation, the lack of investment in transport, a broken Care system, the under development of social and affordable homes, supporting SMEs, championing nature protection, and fighting for clear action to tackle the climate crisis. He has also seen how the government’s disastrous Brexit deal has damaged many small businesses and farmers alike.

“The Liberal Democrats offer positive alternatives to the way that this government have run this country and I look forward to meeting people with a positive message of hope”.

Jonathan grew up in Gloucestershire in a community that is steeped in working class traditions, originally a mining community. He never met his Grandfather Will as Will was killed in a pit accident in 1940 but Jonathan was hugely influenced by his Grandmother Florence, who embodied grit and tenacity, bringing up her young children without a father in the most difficult of circumstances.

Jonathan was the first in his family to attend further education in Cheltenham. He has a strong sense of duty, no doubt influenced by his Father, John, who served as a sergeant in the Coldstream Guards during the Second World War as part of the Liberation of Italy.
He campaigned for the then SDP/Liberal Alliance in the 1980s in both the Cheltenham area and Bracknell, East Berkshire where he was living and working at the time.
He has lived in the Daventry constituency with his wife Christine and their three Italian Spinone dogs since 1998.
He has been a Councillor since 2019, initially elected to Daventry District Council in a by- election and then again in the first elections for the newly created West Northamptonshire Council in 2021. He has spent the last four and half years ensuring the Liberal Democrats have a strong voice at the council speaking up for Liberal Democrat values of fairness and equality.
Jonathan is strong community champion, working hard for his ward of Brixworth, establishing a partnership of some 100 volunteers during the pandemic, supporting the creation of a community Food Larder to support people through these difficult times and working in partnership with a community bus operator to set up services to reconnect villages without any form of public transport. He believes in localism and wants to ensure that people’s voices are heard loud and clear.
He is passionate about tackling the climate emergency, is a key member of West Northants council’s Sustainability group and is heavily involved in shaping its climate strategy and actions. He is the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the council.