Nigel Adams was elected as the Member of Parliament for Selby and Ainsty in May 2010 with a majority of 12,265 votes. In August 2010, he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to The Leader of the House of Lords and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, The Rt Hon Lord Strathclyde.

A local man born and bred

Being from a community and having knowledge of local issues and problems affecting residents is a big advantage for any Member of Parliament. Nigel was raised in the constituency and attended Camblesforth Primary followed by Selby High School from 1978 to 1984.

Nigel's upbringing cannot be described as that of a "typical old school Tory". His parents moved from South Yorkshire mining villages to the Selby area in the late 1950's. His late mother worked as a school cleaner and for 20 years as a Home Help for NYCC. His father retired as school caretaker at Read School, Drax in the 1980's.
 

Nigel's experience

Nigel left school aged 17 and early in his work career, was made redundant. Because of this, he was inspired to set up his first business aged 26. He started his telecommunications company from scratch with a £20 a week Enterprise Allowance Scheme Government grant and the company grew successfully year on year until it was acquired by a PLC in 1999/2000.

He has worked as a volunteer for the Party at elections and in between since 1992. His experience of the “real world” and years as a volunteer helped him when he contested the Labour seat of Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire at the 2005 General Election, reducing Labour's majority to 3,676 before going on to win the Selby and Ainsty seat with a swing of 9.7% from Labour.

An effective campaigner

Even before being elected as the MP for Selby and Ainsty, Nigel campaigned vigorously on several issues affecting the area including organising a campaign and a Downing Street petition against Labour's Post Office closures, he has highlighted concerns over cuts to local NHS services including an ongoing campaign against York & North Yorkshire's PCT's decision to stop offering pain killing injections to chronic back pain sufferers. He has also helped spearhead the campaign against the threat of Labour’s Eco Towns and campaigned hard to stop the closure of Selby Magistrates Court.

He has consistently championed local businesses and he devised the “Selby Means Business” cheque book in conjuction with the Chamber of Trade and Selby Times which enables local residents get access to fantastic offers from local shops and businesses.

Having previously organised local economy summits attended by local businesses affected by the recession and because of his ongoing campaign to bring jobs to the area, Nigel organised the Selby District Jobs Fair where over 50 organisations and 1100 residents attended matching prospective employers with employees.

Nigel has campaigned against large scale onshore windfarms that he believes are ineffective and threaten the North Yorkshire countryside. He has also campaigned with Tockwith residents in their victory opposing a toxic waste incinerator and is also opposed to North Yorkshire County Council’s decision to use public money to build a waste to energy plant. Nigel continues to be a champion for Yorkshire Tourism and UK Music and it’s effect on the UK economy and has led two parliamentary debates on these issues.

Outside Politics

Nigel is married to Claire and they have four children between the ages of 8 and 15. Nigel is a keen sportsman and still plays cricket locally in the York Senior League. He is a charity fundraiser and is actively involved on the Yorkshire committee of The Lord's Taverners. He is also a former member of Yorkshire County Cricket Club's members committee. Nigel is a Patron of the recently launched Selby Hands of Hope charity.

He has been a Governor at Selby High School and is a former Chairman of Governors at Camblesforth Primary School.