James is married to Jeannette with two grown up sons. He is now retired having spent most of his working life in corporate life in the agricultural chemical and biological industries. He has lived and worked in Suffolk for over 37 years in two spells, and therefore is known to many with a reputation for "getting things done". In his spare time he is a musician and church organist, and relaxes in a productive garden and allotment. It has been a privilege for him to have been County Councillor for 17 years in the Stour Valley.
He became a councillor to influence how to protect mediaeval villages in south Suffolk from the many increasing traffic issues. He has successfully led campaigns to improve road safety, to reduce speeding throughout the area, and protect villages from the ever increasing number of very large HGV’s.
As a lifelong Christian Conservative, he holds strong "social" conservative principals which primarily protect the vulnerable backed by firm policies for strong financial management. He strives for good educational standards, care of the elderly, local economic growth, better local Broadband for the outlying villages still not connected, undergrounding of National Grid power lines, (which has not gone away) and the protection of 'AONB's' in Suffolk.