He was educated at King Edward's School in Birmingham, and when the First World War broke out he joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
[3] When Ivor Guest, the MP for nearby Brecon & Radnor, succeeded to the peerage as Viscount Wimborne, Jackson was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the resulting by-election in August 1939.
[7] They selected their own candidate, but were persuaded to withdraw to avoid splitting the non-socialist vote and thereby handing the seat to Labour,[6] but the alliance between the two parties was regarded as having been broken, and the outcome of the election depended on the destination of Liberal support.
[8] With his Liberal background and extensive agricultural contacts in the area, Jackson won the seat with a majority of 6.8% of the votes,[9] a 12% swing to Labour.
[3] They adopted a son, who was unable to inherit the title, which was remaindered to "heirs male of his body",[12] as is usual with British hereditary peerages.