Yousef has lived in Rugby for almost all his life and the town is his home. He grew up here, he went to school here and now he’s raising his family here.
Yousef lives in Hillmorton with Nicola and their three young children who all attend local state schools. His mother’s family have lived in Rugby for generations, with his grandfather and great-uncle, Aubrey and Bill Thompson, running the local butchers on the Hillmorton High Street, while his grandmother, Audrey, worked for Rugby Police.
His parents both worked in the NHS; his mother was a nurse, and his father was an orthopaedic surgeon, and they first met when both working at the Hospital of St Cross. His father finished his career at the nearby George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton, and his mother went on to own and run the Chimneys Residential Home on Bawnmore Road, which remains a popular and successful care home in Rugby to this day. Yousef’s father is a Jordanian national who was born in Palestine and chose to make the UK his home in the 1970s. He worked for the NHS from the moment he stepped foot in the UK, and always conveyed to Yousef the importance of giving back to, and serving, the community. This ethos of public service runs throughout his family.
Growing up in Rugby Yousef received a great education firstly at Bawnmore Infant School and Bilton Junior School before going on to Lawrence Sheriff School. After completing school, Yousef went on to study English Literature at University College London, and also holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Warwick.
After university Yousef worked and travelled in Australia before returning to London to work for a short time. He then moved back to Rugby to be nearer to his parents and to raise his own family. This became even more important after his father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
Since 2010, Yousef has worked for Mark Pawsey MP, firstly as a caseworker helping local residents in Rugby and Bulkington on a daily basis, before progressing to the role of Mark’s Senior Parliamentary Advisor.
Yousef now has over a decade of experience representing local residents since being elected to Warwickshire County Council in 2013. He was first a councillor for the electoral division of Caldecott which covered Bilton, Hillside, Rokeby & Overslade, Eastlands and the Town Centre. Following boundary changes for the county council in 2017, Yousef has represented Hillmorton & Houlton, which includes areas of Paddox, where he lives. At the County Council he has chaired the Children & Young People Overview & Scrutiny Committee which scrutinises the work of the council in relation to education, skills, services for children, child protection, family support and social care and children with specific needs. In May of 2023 he was appointed to the council’s Cabinet and is responsible for council services relating to libraries, HR, ICT services, legal services, and the council’s overall digital transformation programme.
Given his strong family ties to St Cross, in August of 2023 Yousef launched a petition calling on the local health commissioners to upgrade urgent and emergency care at the hospital and calling for a return of doctor-led services. This is one of the most important local issues in Rugby and is one of his key priorities. Yousef is passionate about education and ensuring children get the best possible start in life. He is also committed to ensuring Rugby’s Town Centre and vital infrastructure is enhanced given the town’s growth.
Outside of politics Yousef is a long-suffering Arsenal fan (although he hopes that the good days are returning) and played locally as a child for Bilton Ajax, and then for a number of Saturday, Sunday and Veterans League teams including the Prince of Wales, Hillmorton FC, the Victoria Inn, CRC Vets and Rugby Borough Vets. He also played cricket locally for Dunchurch, Barby Cricket Club, the Merchants Inn, and in the Tuesday night Rugby Cricket League for the Network Rail team.
As a child he was also a keen tennis player, and as tennis-playing member of the Bilton Bowling Club he spent many school holiday summer mornings on the club’s courts and playing in youth Lawn Tennis Association tournaments. He’s an avid reader, enjoys movies, almost all sports and, most importantly of all, spending time with his family. He has raised money for various charities in Rugby and has supported many local youth clubs including The Bradby Club and the Hill Street Youth & Community Centre. He is proud to have helped Rugby Borough Women & Girls Football Club, where his youngest daughter now plays, in their early days by securing funding for the creation of a Girls Football Development Centre at the club.
As a local councillor he helped local Hillmorton residents fight off two large speculative housing developments in the countryside, and although he is not anti-development, he is anti-bad development. He has also been a long-standing supporter of the Kids & Cars Don’t Mix initiative run by Warwickshire County Council, which aims to improve road safety around schools. He has been involved in the planting of hundreds of trees across Rugby including at Rugby’s Diamond Wood and in Featherbed Lane Recreation Ground.
Yousef also worked alongside a small group of dedicated residents during the pandemic who provided support to vulnerable and isolated people. He helped source IT equipment for disadvantaged children, collected and delivered shopping and prescriptions to elderly and isolated residents, and put people in touch with each other so they could speak on the telephone to help tackle social isolation.
In July of 2023 Yousef was selected by local Conservatives to fight the next General Election in Rugby & Bulkington. As our next MP Yousef will focus on the issues that matter most to local people, rather than the fleeting fancies of the ‘Westminster Bubble’.
Yousef was made in Rugby, to serve Rugby, and that is exactly what he will continue to do from day one as our next MP: to fight for the needs and interests of the people of Rugby & Bulkington above everything else, and to always put our town first.
The issues that matter most to local people and to local families, matter most to him, because first and foremost he is a local resident too.