Jonathan Evans (politician)

Jonathan Evans MEP
Member of European Parliament for Wales
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 June 1999
Preceded by	(new constituency)
Member of Parliament for Brecon and Radnorshire
In office 9 April 1992 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Richard Livsey
Succeeded by	Richard Livsey
Personal details
Born	(1950-06-02) June 2, 1950 Tredegar, Wales, United Kingdom
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Margaret
Children	3
Profession	Solicitor
Website	www.jonathanevans.org.uk

Jonathan Peter Evans FRSA (born 2 June 1950) is a British politician. He is a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for Wales and was a Member of Parliament for Brecon and Radnorshire between 1992 and 1997. At the next general election he will contest the marginal seat of Cardiff North.

Career

Born in Tredegar, Evans was educated at Lewis School Pengam, Howardian High School, Cardiff and the Law Society's College of Law in Guildford and London. He trained with solicitors Leo Abse and Cohen in Cardiff from 1968 and joined the firm upon qualification in 1973 rising to Managing Partner in 1987. In 1997, he was appointed Director of Insurance in the City of London office of Eversheds, the major global law firm and remains a consultant to the practice. He has also acted as a consultant on London Insurance market issues to several major North American insurance corporations.

He is a former Deputy Chairman of the Welsh Housing Corporation (Tai Cymru). In 1995 he was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Political career

He contested the 1987 general election in the marginal Brecon and Radnorshire constituency, but lost by 56 votes to the sitting Liberal MP Richard Livsey.

At the 1992 general election, he defeated Livsey (who was now a Liberal Democrat) by 130 votes and took his seat in the House of Commons. He was a junior minister in the John Major government, serving as Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor; Corporate Affairs Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry; and then serving under William Hague as Under Secretary of State for Wales from 1996 to 1997. However, at the 1997 general election Livsey retook the seat with a majority of over 5,000..

At the European Parliament election, 1999, Evans was elected as MEP for Wales in 1999, and he was re-elected at the 2004 Euro-elections. He was Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament from 2001 until 2004. In August 2007, he was selected to fight the highly marginal seat of Cardiff North at the next general election.

Personal life

Evans is married to a wife, Margaret, and has three children (Angharad, Rhianydd and Nicholas).

External links

• Profile at European Parliament website
• Jonathan Evans official website