Jonathan Chatfield

Jonathan Chatfield Winning here

About Me.

Latest Articles.

Campaigns.

Latest Stories.

About Me

Jonathan lives in the heart of the South East Cambridgeshire constituency in the beautiful village of Impington. He is married to Doris, who is a Research Nurse at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and they have a young son called Samuel.

Jonathan is a Commercial Manager in the rail industry and has held several posts within his career, including Station Manager at Cambridge and Sales and Marketing Manager for Stansted Express. He is currently with Network Rail working on major investment projects in the London area.

Jonathan studied Economics, Politics and History at the University of Bradford. Upon graduating he became the first ever Liberal Democrat to be elected President of the University Students' Union. He was involved in several National Union of Students committees and campaigns concerning student finance and housing.

Jonathan was elected as a councillor on South Cambridgeshire District Council in 2002 and has been re-elected twice, each time with an increased majority. He has also been a Parish Councillor on Histon Parish Council for 5 years. In recent years, Jonathan has organised local campaigns on 'Axe the Tax', door-step recycling, improvements to local bus services, reductions in traffic speed limits and many other issues. These campaigns have included petitions, High Street stalls, letter writing and local media involvement. He is particularly passionate about transport, education and environmental issues.

Jonathan is a fluent French speaker, having spent eight months in Bordeaux. He has recently graduated with a Masters Degree (MBA) from Warwick Business School. In his spare time Jonathan is actively involved in his local village church and he and his wife also enjoy cycling, coastal and hill walking.

Education

10 GCE 'O' Levels, Weymouth Grammar School 1981-86; 3 GCE 'A' Levels, Weymouth College 1986-88; BSc.(Hons), University of Bradford 1988-91; Masters in Business Administration, Warwick Business School 2008

Experience

President, Students' Union, University of Bradford 1991-92; Graduate Training Scheme then Station Manager, Enfield 1992-94, Station Manager, Cambridge 1994-96, Sales and Marketing Manager, Stansted Express 1996-2000, Business Manager, Network Rail 2000-06, Commercial Advisor 2006-present

Council experience

Member Histon Parish Council 2001-05; South Cambridgeshire District Council 2002-present

Parliamentary experience

PPC, South East Cambridgeshire 2005

Occupation

Commercial Manager

Memberships

Histon Parish Church, University of Bradford Graduates Association

Latest Articles

Wed 3rd Mar 2010:

Regulation is the Answer to Burwell's Bus Problems.

Some readers may remember that just over 30 years ago Burwell had its very own bus company - Burwell and District Motor Services. The brown and cream buses linked Burwell to Cambridge and Newmarket, Soham and Ely and many of the villages around it. Then in 1979 the brothers who owned it wanted to retire and sold it to Eastern Counties the then nationalised bus company.

Thu 16th Oct 2008:

Parliamentary Column Autumn 2008.

Tough economic times are upon us again. Food prices are going up in the shops. Petrol prices have never been higher. Houses are not selling. Mortgages are unavailable. It is hard to find many reasons to be cheerful.

Tue 8th Apr 2008:

Parliamentary Column April 08.

What is it that makes a community? How often do you stop and think about the difference between a housing estate, a beautiful village and a thriving community? Here in South East Cambridgeshire, we have many beautiful villages, but it is a sense of community that really makes a place special.

Thu 14th Feb 2008:

Parliamentary Column Feb 08.

There should be few things more obvious in a modern and caring society than our need to look after older people, as they reach their later years. That is why the Liberal Democrats are proposing a Care Guarantee. Not only that, we are prepared to put two billion pounds behind it, to show how serious we are about this commitment.

Thu 8th Nov 2007:

Jonathan Chatfield calls for Fixed Term Parliament.

Following the recent speculation and then subsequent 'cancellation' of the autumn General Election, Jonathan Chatfield has joined other Liberal Democrats in calling for 4-year fixed term parliaments in the UK. This would prevent the endless speculation and uncertainty over the date of the election and would place the whole process on a sound and stable footing. Such a decision to elect a national government should not rest solely with the UK Prime Minister who can then manipulate events and stage manage announcements, whilst analysing the latest results from opinion polls and focus groups. It does not make for good government and turns the electoral process into one dominated by sectional party interest. Other European countries have a fixed term parliament and now is the time for us to modernise our democracy in this way as well.

Mon 1st Oct 2007:

Conference Report.

Ming Campbell closed a successful Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton with an attack on "the cosy consensus" between Labour and the Conservatives. In a passionate and powerful speech he committed the Liberal Democrats to 'rattling the cage' of British politics.

Earlier Stories

Complete archive on the official site.

Campaigns

Jonathan Chatfield campaiging with Ely Lib Dems

Jonathan Chatfield campaigning to Axe the Tax

Jonathan Chatfield talking to a local resident about speeding in local villages

Jonathan Chatfield campaigning for improved cycling facilities

Latest Stories

Wed 10th Mar 2010:

Lib Dems Demand Answers to Guided Bus Farce.

Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats are calling on the Tories to give total clarity to the catalogue of defects facing the controversial guided bus project.

Sat 27th Feb 2010:

County Council Plan Threatens Villagers with 1,000 Lorries a Day.

Villagers are warned they could face up to 1,000 lorries a day going past their homes if plans to extract 1.4 million tons of sand and gravel from nearby pits is given the go-ahead.

Lib Dem Candidate Delighted at Council U turn over Ely Market.

Jonathan Chatfield the Liberal Democrat general election candidate for South East Cambridgeshire welcomes East Cambridgeshire district council's change of mind over Ely Market at its full council meeting last night (23 February 2010), with its decision to consult traders, residents and shoppers over its intention to stop providing stalls for the Saturday market.

Tue 23rd Feb 2010:

Lib Dem Candidate asks Minister to act over Ely Market.

Jonathan Chatfield the Liberal Democrat General Election candidate for South East Cambridgeshire has written to the local government minister Rosie Winterton MP asking her to intervene in East Cambridgeshire district council's decision not to supply stalls for Ely market traders.

Fri 19th Feb 2010:

Lib Dem Candidate is Backing The Pub.

Jonathan Chatfield the Liberal Democrats' candidate for South East Cambridgeshire in the General Election is supporting the "I'm backing the pub" campaign, by the British Beer & Pub Association and the Society of Independent Brewers which is also supported by the CBI, Visit Britain and the Campaign for Real Ale.

Mon 1st Feb 2010:

Projects Cancelled to Bail out Guided Bus.

Ely safety projects have been indefinitely postponed as Cambridgeshire Tories struggle to pay for the guided bus.

Fri 22nd Jan 2010:

Taxpayers should not fund Cadbury takeover say Lib Dems.

Local Liberal Democrats are fuming about the takeover of Cadbury by US company Kraft being part financed by the state owned Royal Bank of Scotland .

Sat 16th Jan 2010:

Liberal Democrats put fairness at the heart of General Election campaign.

The Liberal Democrats have announced they will fight the General Election on four key principles, designed to make Britain a fairer place.

Fri 11th Dec 2009:

Call to Government to help councils achieve carbon emissions targets.

As world leaders try to reach agreement on reducing green house gases at the Copenhagen climate change conference, leading Liberal Democrat Jonathan Chatfield points to the woeful local reductions in carbon emissions and calls for more government support for district councils for their efforts to get people to reduce their CO2 emissions.

Wed 4th Nov 2009:

Farmers' massive data loss another nail in the ID card coffin.

Liberal Democrats are pointing to yet another catastrophic loss of personal data by the Government to support its opposition to ID cards.

Mon 2nd Nov 2009:

Local Tory MPs must speak up say Lib Dems.

Following reports in the national press that the Tories are planning to 'reclaim' power over planning decisions for central government, leading local Liberal Democrat Councillors and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, Sebastian Kindersley (South Cambs) and Jonathan Chatfield (South-East Cambs) are calling on Tory MPs Andrew Lansley and James Paice to speak out against this proposed policy.

Sat 24th Oct 2009:

Lib Dems want fair trade for UK farmers.

Liberal Democrats applaud the Fairtrade Foundation in celebrating 15 years of the Fairtrade mark and the news that the Government is to provide £12 million over the next four years in funding to Fairtrade, but they also ask that UK farmers get a fair trade deal too.

Sat 10th Oct 2009:

National game should be shown on national TV say Lib Dems.

Commenting on the fact that this Saturday's England World Cup qualifier will be shown exclusively on pay-per-view on the Internet, Jonathan Chatfield the Liberal Democrats' parliamentary spokesperson for South East Cambridgeshire and avid Histon and England supporter said:

Sat 12th Sep 2009:

Call for more Secure Allotments.

Following the burning down of an allotment shed in Histon local Liberal Democrat district councillor Jonathan Chatfield is calling for greater security for allotments which have been increasingly affected by theft and vandalism.

Mon 20th Jul 2009:

Return Jobcentres to 2004 funding and staffing levels.

With the Office for National Statistics reporting the largest quarterly fall in the working age employment rate since comparable records began in 1971, Jonathan Chatfield the Lib Dems' parliamentary spokesperson for South East Cambridgeshire is calling for Jobcentre funding and staffing to be brought back to 2004 levels, with extra resources for Ely and Newmarket.

Earlier Stories

Complete archive on the official site.