Jones attended the University of Central Lancashire in 1989,to study a BA in Graphic Design,and as well as completing a City and Guilds qualification in Desktop Publishing,followed by employment at Holland's Pies. He then took employment for two years with Blackburn Council working in the parks department and refuse collection.
Jones had periods of temporary and part time work for Lancashire County Council in various roles;as a community transport driver,meals on wheels driver and care assistant at Whinberry View,Rawtenstall. He attended night school,passing City &Guilds qualifications in digital press. From 2001 until 7 May 2010,the day after the 2010 general election,Jones worked at Daltons Printers.
In May 2005,he was elected as the Opposition Leader on Hyndburn Borough Council,and remained as such until his resignation from Hyndburn Council in May 2010,the seat being retained by Labour Councillor Wendy Dwyer,who had been Jones' predecessor in the Accrington South division on Lancashire County Council elections.[5][6]
In June 2009,he contested the Accrington South Division (Peel,Baxenden and Barnfield wards) for the County Council amidst the MP's expenses scandal. His majority was reduced from 17.6% to 17.1%,a majority of 469 votes,making it one of Labour's safer seats.[7]Across Lancashire County,Labour were reduced from 44 seats to 16.[8]
In February 2010 The Blackburn Citizen reported that Jones had acted in "technical breach" of council rules,in discussing unadopted roads Annie Street,Hodder Street and Manor Street at meetings,whilst on one occasion failing to mention that he lived on Hodder Street. The Hyndburn Standards Committee concluded that Jones had not attempted to conceal his address from the council,having declared it on other occasions.[9]
In July 2010,he was also involved in a dispute with rival councillor Peter Britcliffe,who implied that Jones had other undeclared property interests by repeatedly shouting "two houses" at Jones during a council meeting. Britcliffe subsequently apologised after legal threats,acknowledging that the second home belonged to a late relative of Jones and was not his property.[10]
Parliamentary career
Hyndburn's Labour MP Greg Pope suddenly announced his intention to step down on 11 June 2009.[11] In November 2009,Jones was chosen as the candidate to succeed him by Labour;[12] he held the seat by a majority of 3,090 at the 2010 general election.
In October 2010,Jones was appointed to the Labour Whips office,following Ed Miliband becoming Labour leader. He was an assistant whip throughout the 2010–15 Parliament.[13] In August 2013,he was reselected as the Labour candidate for the 2015 general election.
On 14 September 2015,Jones resigned from the front benches following the election of Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership contest.[14] He said he could not serve under Mr Corbyn as he was from the "extreme left",and did not hold Labour's "true values". Jones was critical of Corbyn's policies on welfare,the economy and immigration,and believed Labour in opposition must be "more fiscally responsible".[15] He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.[16]
Jones was a leading member of the successful campaign to reduce maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2. In agreeing to the change,the government took up a Labour manifesto pledge. Described by Labour List as "a stunning victory for those who have led a five-year long campaign to reduce the impact that FOBTs,the “crack cocaine of gambling”,can have on communities,families and individual gamblers."[17]
Jones also established and was Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Metal,Stone and Heritage Crime to raise awareness of the social and economic impact of metal,stone and heritage crime.[18][19] Jones was at the forefront of the campaign to amend the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 1964 and stamp out illegal scrap metal dealers plaguing estates. In November 2011,he introduced a private member's bill[20][21] under the Ten Minute Rule,proposing licensing for scrap metal dealers in an attempt to cut down on metal theft which led to the Scrap Metals Dealers Act 2013.[22] He called for travelling scrap metal dealers to be legally required to carry clearly visible identification signs on their vehicles including a contact number.[23]
Jones also established the All Party Parliamentary Group,Transport Across the North,a dedicated cross-party forum to promote discussion and investment in all modes of transport across the North of England and to provide better opportunities for MPs representing Northern constituencies to meet with senior officials and receive relevant briefings. Jones was elected as Chair to campaign to fight for fair resources across the North.[25]
He was chair of the Committees on Arms Export Controls in the 57th parliament[26] defeating the Conservative MP for North East Hampshire,Ranil Jayawardena MP. As Chair,Jones raised the 'forgotten war' in Yemen[27] as well as raising serious concerns about China. Jones set up the Labour Friends of Yemen[28] and became its first Chair.
In 2017,Jones was elected to the Defence Select Committee. Jones was a strong advocate for increased defence spending[29] and for defending Eastern Europe and the Caucasus against threats from Russia.[30]
Jones was one of six Labour MPs elected by the Parliamentary Labour Party to the Parliamentary Committee which meets weekly in private with the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.[31] He was also elected as Chair of the Labour Parliamentary Committee on Culture Media and Sport.[32]
In 2019,Jones was elected as a Parliamentary representative to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).[33]
He lost his seat at the general election of 2019. His Conservative successor,Sara Britcliffe,is the daughter of Peter Britcliffe,the councillor against whom he previously took legal action.[10] After the election result had been declared,Jones said,"Obviously,I am disappointed but... I'm pleased that I went straight from a factory to a frontbencher."[34]
Jones posted a video about his last day in Parliament.[35]
Life after Parliament
After the election,Sara Britcliffe was photographed in a nightclub wearing a t-shirt with Jones' picture printed on it mocking him. Jones described it as "childish behaviour”.[36]
Jones said that he wanted to help local charities and stay involved with the local Labour Party. He stated that he was "100 per cent" committed to standing to become Hyndburn's next MP,insisting he has "unfinished business".[37] In March 2023,he was reselected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Haslingden and Hyndburn constituency;[38] however,on 13 February 2024 he was suspended by Labour,following reports of comments he made about the Israel-Hamas war.[39] Jones said Britons who go to Israel to fight for the Israel Defense Forces "should be locked up".[40]
Gregory James Pope is a British Labour Party politician,who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn from 1992,until retiring at the general election of 2010. He was a government whip from 1997 until 2001.
Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire,England. Its council is based in Accrington,the largest town,and the borough also covers the outlying towns of Clayton-le-Moors,Great Harwood,Oswaldtwistle and Rishton. The borough was created in 1974 and takes its name from the River Hyndburn. It had a population of 80,734 at the 2011 Census. Elections to the council are held in three out of every four years,with one third of the 35 seats on the council being elected at each election. Both the Conservative and Labour parties have controlled the council at different times,as well as periods when no party has had a majority.
Hyndburn is a constituency in Lancashire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sarah Smith of the Labour Party.
Joseph Kenneth Hargreaves,MBE,FCIS,served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Hyndburn in Lancashire between 1983 and 1992.
Accrington was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Baxenden is a village and ward in the Borough of Hyndburn in Lancashire,North-West England. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,042. Baxenden is sometimes known to locals as Bash.
St Christopher's C of E High is a Church of England High School with academy status located north of Accrington in Lancashire,north-west England. The school was founded in 1958,and in 2005,the school earned Technology College status.
Ian Lavery is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blyth and Ashington from 2024. He was previously the MP for Wansbeck from 2010 to 2024. Lavery served as the chair of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn from 2017 to 2020,and was the president of the National Union of Mineworkers from 2002 to 2010. He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.
Gordon Birtwistle is a British Liberal Democrat politician and former MP. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Burnley,England,from May 2010 to May 2015. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Danny Alexander,Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2012. From 2013,he was Government Apprenticeship Ambassador to Business.
Sir Nicholas Dakin is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Scunthorpe since 2024,having previously served from 2010 to 2019. A member of the Labour party,he has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing and as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since July 2024. He was the Shadow Minister for Schools from 2015 to 2016,Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in 2015,and an opposition whip from 2011 to 2015 and 2016 to 2019.
Elizabeth Anne McInnes is a British Labour Party politician and biochemist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Heywood and Middleton from 2014 to 2019.
Catherine Malloy Hollern CBE is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn from 2015 to 2024. She was Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council from 2004 to 2007 and 2010 to 2015.
Imran Hussain is a British independent,previously Labour politician,and barrister who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford East since 2015.
Seema Louise Ghiassi Kennedy is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at both the Department of Health and Social Care and the Home Office in 2019. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ribble in Lancashire from 2015 to 2019,and also served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister from 2017 to 2019. She was the first female MP of Iranian heritage to take a seat in the House of Commons.
Kevin Horkin MBE is a Lancashire business owner,journalist,pet consultant,and TV presenter who has appeared on several animal-themed television programmes in the United Kingdom. He unsuccessfully contested the Hyndburn Parliamentary Constituency on behalf of the Conservative Party in both the 2015 general election and the 2017 United Kingdom general election.
A by-thirds Hyndburn Borough Council local election,was held on Thursday 3 May 2018. Approximately one third of the local council's 35 seats fall up for election on that day.
Sara Alice Britcliffe is a British Conservative Party politician,who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn from 2019 to 2024. At the age of 24,she was the youngest Conservative MP elected in the election,and the first to represent the constituency since 1992.
A by-thirds Hyndburn Borough Council local election,was held on Thursday 6 May 2021. Approximately one third of the local council's 35 seats fall up for election on that day.
A by-thirds Hyndburn Borough Council local election,was held on Thursday 5 May 2022. Approximately one third of the local council's 35 seats fell up for election on that day.
The 2024 Hyndburn Borough Council election was held on 2 May 2024,to elect 12 of the 35 members of Hyndburn Borough Council in Lancashire,England,being the usual approximate third of the council. This was on the same day as other local elections across the country,including for the Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner.
References
↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
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