Jonathan grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon, attending Princethorpe College in Warwickshire, before studying International Relations with Law at Oxford Brookes University, and going on to get his PGCE in secondary citizenship from the Institute of Education.
Whilst at university, Jonathan was elected as a Conservative Councillor to Stratford-upon-Avon District Council in 2011, gaining the Shipston seat from the Liberal Democrats.
He then began an eight-year stint in teaching at schools in London, Warwickshire and Birmingham, becoming a Head of Year who was responsible for the achievement, behaviour and safety of over 250 students. He oversaw whole school attendance for Years 7 to 11 and was also the school trade union representative for the NASUWT.
Jonathan's first parliamentary endeavour came in the 2017 general election, where he contested Washington and Sunderland West, increasing the Conservative vote-share by 10%, coming second to Labour.
In July 2019, Jonathan was selected as the Conservative candidate for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove & Talke, and in the December general election later that year was elected as the Member of Parliament, with the popular vote and a majority of 6,286, becoming the constituency's first ever Conservative MP.
During his parliamentary career, Jonathan sat on the Education Select Committee, helping them to author the report on disadvantaged white pupils, and also sat on the Business and Trade Select Committee, investigating issues like the Post Office scandal and post-Brexit trade agreements.
He also co-chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Apprenticeships and founded and chaired the APPG for Defibrillators.
In 2020, Jonathan was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Leader of the House of Lords, later becoming PPS to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Jonathan was appointed as Minister for School Standards in 2022, overseeing all primary and secondary schools across England. During Jonathan’s time he introduced the new £30,000 per annum starting salary for new teachers, and began work on introducing a multi year PE and Sports Premium deal for primary schools to improve access to high quality PE lessons.
During his time as a Member of Parliament, Jonathan put forward numerous Private Members' Bills - Desecration of War Memorials, Planning (Proper Maintenance of Land), and the Extension of Auto-Enrolment of Pensions - all of which were adopted by the Government and made into law. Jonathan’s other campaigns which he introduced Bills to Parliament regard Multi-Academy Trusts (Ofsted Inspection) and Sharlotte’s Law (Road Traffic (Testing of Blood) Bill).
Jonathan graduated from the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme which raises awareness of issues facing the Armed Forces amongst MPs. Specifically, Jonathan was on the Army course and has visited training centres like AFC Harrogate, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Infantry Battle School Brecon.
To help people understand how Parliament and Whitehall works, Jonathan co-hosted the Inside Whitehall podcast with James Starkie, demystifying some of the concepts we hear and read about in politics coverage every day.
Locally in Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove & Talke, Jonathan proudly made 761 times spoken contributions in Parliament, which is over four times more than his Labour predecessor. Between 2019 and 2024, he made the most spoken contributions of all Conservative MPs first-elected in 2019. From record levels of funding to new bus routes, read everything Jonathan campaigned for and achieved whilst MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, Kidsgrove & Talke here.
In 2024, Jonathan was asked to serve as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party which he did until the conclusion of the 2024 general election.
He lives with his fiancé Nkita, two children Amelia and William, and dogs Bella and Bailey.