Robert Jackson (Wantage MP)

Jackson was raised in Nkana, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), where his father worked on the copper mines.

At the October 1974 general election, Jackson stood in Manchester Central, a safe seat for the Labour Party, without success.

On 15 January 2005, Jackson defected to the Labour Party, stating that the Tories had "incoherent" policies on public services, "dangerous" views on Europe, and had "wobbled" on the issue of Iraq.

In a letter to his constituency chairman, he wrote: "It is in the country's best interest that Tony Blair rather than Michael Howard should form the next government.

"[1] Jackson, who had been on the liberal and pro-European wing of the Conservatives, was one of the few Tory MPs who supported the reduction in the age of consent for gay men.