Thomas Jay (known by many simply as TJ), is an elected Conservative County Councillor and Borough Councillor in Staffordshire.
Thomas grew up in a single parent home in Glascote Heath, the most impoverished council estate in the Tamworth, and he believes this experience has given him insight into how difficult life can be for many people in the county.
Thomas studied at local primary and high schools in Tamworth and became the first person in his family to go on to obtain a master’s degree. By his mid-twenties, after reaching senior positions in large companies throughout the country, he started his own business which now employs over 40 people and has achieved annual revenues over £3 million. Thomas believes this experience has been a shining example of our Conservative philosophy, being lifted from the very bottom of the social environment to success.
Having grown up in the Borough of Tamworth, and now living in the rural area, Thomas’ life experience connects him with people across the social spectrum and joins him with all parts of the constituency across the board, and this allows him to reach people who normally wouldn't look towards our Party.
Thomas believes in influencing from within and wants to help guide our Party back to being known as the organisation it really is - a compassionate, competent institution with family values at its core, demonstrating robust services which create an economic environment to lift people up from the bottom.
Thomas has been an elected official at the Borough and County level for the last five years and during that time has managed to navigate and survive all the political upheavals thrown our way. He has handled himself ethically without a blemish to his name, and he believes this demonstrates both his political skill and integrity.
Thomas believes that a politician’s conduct should be beyond reproach and aims to be someone that his constituents and his family can be proud of.
Personal
- Married for 16 years.
- Two daughters at primary school in rural part of constituency, in Drayton Bassett, (one starting high school in Borough of Tamworth)
- Grew up in the Borough and now residing in rural area.
- Extended family, including elderly Mum live throughout the area.
- Fully vested interest in the advancement of our Constituency.
- Attended Tamworth primary and high schools.
- Left the area for higher education and returned to raise family.
- Diploma in Leadership and Management, Certificate in Regulation and Ethics, London Institute of Banking and Finance,
- Master’s degree in business administration (MBA), University of Northampton
- Public Policy Economics Certificate, University of Oxford.
- Local heritage and family connection with Tamworth date back almost sixty years
Professional
- Senior positions held at large, publicly listed organisations.
- Local business owner since 2013
- Grew one-man start-up in less than ten years to c.45 employees with multimillion £ in revenues.
- In recent years assisted managing successful stock market 'Merger & Acquisitions' transactions worth in excess of £220M.
- Acquired clients including some of the UKs largest companies and with repeat business.
- Work achievements can be attributed to consistent delivery, honesty, and capably connecting and communicating with the utmost integrity to all manner and levels of the business community.
Political
- Elected Conservative County Councillor - first term, elected since 2021
- Elected Conservative Borough Councillor - second term, elected since 2018. Highest non-general election year majority for seat.
- Chairman of Tamworth Borough Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee for 4 years - recognised for chairing the ‘best scrutiny session ever seen on this Council’.
- Held both ‘Deputy Chairman Membership’ and ‘Communications Officer’ positions for the Tamworth Conservative Association.
- Successfully lobbied for increased number of Cabinet positions on Council to better distribute workloads for important upcoming projects.
- Led a retrospective review of the delayed Tamworth Assembly Rooms refurbishment, which led to recommendations for a new project governance structure which is in use now.
- Active and visible presence with the electorate. Well received.
- Experienced regular observations how I positively influenced public opinions regarding Conservatives.
- Helped fight an election in Labour’s safest Tamworth Ward, Bolehall, where their majority was significantly reduced from over 400 to double digits (we then had them in the next election!)
- Significantly, I demonstrated my ability to
- Connect with the voters.
- Inspire people to go to the polls.
- Reach voters who are not traditionally Conservative because of my matter-of-fact approach as well as my background and experience.