Dan Jarvis Daniel Owen Woolgar Jarvis , MBE ( born 30 November 1972 ) is a British Labour Party politician and former British Army officer . After a career in the Parachute Regiment including most of the regiment ' s major deployments , he went into politics and has been the Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Barnsley Central since a by - election held on 3 March 2011 . Early life . Jarvis was born on 30 November 1972 in Nottingham , the son of a lecturer and a probation officer . He attended Lady Bay Primary School . He and his brother Rob Jarvis are fans of Nottingham Forest F . C . , with both as children failing to gain tickets in the ballot for the 1989 F . A . Cup semi - final between Forest and Liverpool , and hence they did not have to witness the Hillsborough disaster . He studied international politics at Aberystwyth University . He graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics and Strategic Studies . He graduated with an MA in Conflict , Security & Development from King ' s College London in 2011 . Military career . Jarvis attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst as an officer cadet . On 9 August 1997 , he given a short service commission into the Parachute Regiment as a subaltern ( second lieutenant ) with seniority from 9 July 1994 . On the same day he was promoted to subaltern ( lieutenant ) with seniority from 9 July 1996 . He then joined the 1st Battalion , Parachute Regiment . On 4 October 2000 , he transferred to an intermediate regular commission . At the time he was an acting captain . He was promoted to captain on 10 October 2001 . Having attended the Intermediate Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College , he was promoted to major on 31 July 2003 . He transferred to a regular commission on 9 February 2004 . In the later part of his army career he was stationed at HQ Land Forces in Wilton , and lived in Salisbury . During his time in the Parachute Regiment , Jarvis was a platoon commander with 3 Para in Kosovo in 1999 , and was with General Sir Mike Jackson at Pristina Airport when Jackson refused the suggestion of his American NATO superior to confront Russian forces . Jarvis later described Jackson ' s comment to Wesley Clark that he was " not going to start World War Three for you " as a " very surreal moment in my life " . Jarvis then served as Jackson ' s personal staff officer . In 2000 he was deployed to Sierra Leone in the aftermath of Operation Barras to help the Army learn the lessons of the kidnap of a group of troops by an armed rebel group . Jarvis served in Iraq during Operation Telic and in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick . He was deployed to Afghanistan twice , first as a member of the team making the first reconnaissance trips to Helmand Province in 2005 to 2006 in preparation for a decision on whether to commit British troops there . The second deployment was a six - month tour as a company commander with the Special Forces Support Group , leading a company of 100 troops . He was also deployed to Northern Ireland . He resigned his commission on 3 March 2011 . In the 2011 Queen ' s Birthday Honours , he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire ( Military division ) . Politics . Although his military service had precluded political activity , Jarvis had joined the Labour Party at the age of 18 while at university . Shortly before the 2010 general election , Jarvis was shortlisted for the Labour Party selection in the south Wales seat of Islwyn . He picked up support from one local would - be candidate who had not made the shortlist , but he was not selected . Jarvis was selected as the Labour candidate for Barnsley Central on 27 January 2011 following the resignation of Eric Illsley , who stood down after being convicted of fraud for his part in the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal . An eliminating ballot was held and at the penultimate stage Jarvis was tied with local councillor Linda Burgess , each several votes behind Richard Burgon . London Regional Director , Ken Clark , put two pieces of paper into the Press Officer , Phil Dilk ' s , hat . One that said " Loser " and one that said " Winner " and Burgess went first picking out the paper that said " loser " , and Jarvis won ; in the final stage he picked up most of Burgess ' votes to win selection . He became the first Labour candidate for the Barnsley Central seat since 1938 who was not born in Yorkshire . MP for Barnsley Central . On his selection he resigned his commission to stand in the by - election , and gave his campaign the codename ' Operation Honey Badger ' , referring to a famously fierce animal and signifying his determination to fight for the people of Barnsley . Jarvis found that his Nottingham origins put off some Barnsley voters who remembered the fact that Nottinghamshire miners did not join the 1984 - 85 strike , although he had been 12 at the time . He was elected with over 60 % of the vote in the by - election held on 3 March 2011 . During his maiden speech on the 2011 budget , Jarvis called for a change in economic policy including " a plan to get jobs and to help families feeling the squeeze " . He also referred to Parachute Regiment colleagues who had been killed in action and argued that the UK and US should put forward reconciliation in Afghanistan . He joined the Business , Innovation and Skills Select Committee on 21 March . Jarvis spoke in a debate about NHS reforms in May 2011 , paying emotional tribute to the doctors and nurses who cared for his wife , and fearing an ideological free - market agenda which would undermine “ all that is great about the NHS ” . In October 2011 , Jarvis was appointed Shadow Arts and Culture Minister , part of the Shadow Culture , Media and Sport team led by Harriet Harman , moving to become Shadow Youth Justice and Victims Minister in Labour leader Ed Miliband ' s October 2013 shadow cabinet reshuffle . Personal life . Jarvis met his wife Caroline in 2000 when she was working as a personal chef for the family of General Sir Mike Jackson . Their first child was born in 2003 , three days before Jarvis was deployed to Iraq ; a second child was born in 2005 . Caroline Jarvis was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2006 and died in July 2010 .