<p>Robert Jones, Redrow’s former chairman and a Conservative planning minister with John Major’s government, as well as a regular Housebuilder columnist since 1997, has died of cancer at the age of 57. Jones joined Redrow’s board as chairman in 1997, a role he was forced to relinquish due to his ill health in March. A highly regarded politician, he held positions on St Andrews burgh council from the age of 22, along with Fife county council from 1973–75 and Chiltern district council from 1979. These positions led Jones to write a series of publications, including Housing (1976), and Town and country chaos: a critique of the planning system (1982). </p> <p>He was elected to the Conservative’s west Hertfordshire constituency in 1983, a seat he held as a Tory minister from 1992-97, during which time he was minister of state responsible for construction, planning and energy efficiency (1994-97). Jones was also chairman of the Commons environmental select committee from 1992-94. Highly regarded as a principled politician, Jones was described in The Guardian newspaper as “one of the most intelligent and practical of recent ministers; a politician who brought quiet credit to the name.” </p> <p>Politically passionate since his student days at …