live in the UK. He unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative Party candidate in the marginal Western ward of Swindon Borough Council at the 2008 local elections. Following this, Heaton-Jones was appointed the Party's media and campaigns director. In 2009 he became a Councillor on Haydon Wick Parish Council and a Governor at Isambard Community School, both in North Swindon. In 2010, he served as agent and campaign director for the Conservative candidates in the North Swindon and South Swindon parliamentary constituencies, both of which were gained from the Labour Party at the general election on 6 May. On the same day he was elected to Swindon Borough Council as councillor for the Abbey Meads ward. Following the election, he was appointed Senior Parliamentary Assistant to MPs Robert Buckland and Justin Tomlinson. He was also appointed to a number of committees on Swindon Borough Council, including the Planning and Scrutiny committees. In May 2012, Heaton-Jones was re-elected to Swindon Borough Council for the new St Andrews ward. He was appointed Chair of the Economic Scrutiny Committee and Vice-Chair of Scrutiny, and also served on the Licensing Committee. Member of Parliament In February 2013, Heaton-Jones was selected as the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for North Devon. He went on to win the seat in May 2015, defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Nick Harvey. He was re-elected at the 2017 general election, with an increased share of the vote. In July 2016 he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the ministerial team at the Department for Work and Pensions. In June 2017 he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the new Secretary of State at the department, David Gauke. In January 2018, when Gauke was appointed Lord Chancellor, Heaton-Jones moved with him to the Ministry of Justice. He served as his Parliamentary Private Secretary until Gauke resigned in July 2019. Heaton-Jones was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum. In the House of Commons he sat on the Environmental Audit Committee between 2015–2017. He also sat on numerous Delegated Legislation Committees, including the Committee Stage of the Data Protection Act 2018. Post-Parliament In October 2019 Heaton-Jones announced he would stand down from Parliament and not contest the forthcoming general election, in December 2019. Since leaving the House of Commons he has worked as a political consultant, a commentator and analyst on broadcast media, and a feature writer. In November 2020 he was