Life and career
Jones was born in Croydon and is a lifelong resident. [9] She was educated at the private Old Palace School in Croydon and at Durham University,where she read history. [10] She was a member of Trevelyan College. [11]
Jones joined the Labour Party aged 19 in 1992 after watching Conservative Party MP Peter Lilley,then the Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security,make a speech to his party's annual conference where he attacked benefit claimants and women who allegedly become pregnant to gain council housing. Jones,who was pregnant at the time,joined the Labour Party as a direct reaction to the speech. [12] [13]
After leaving university Jones worked for Mo Mowlam,Labour Member of Parliament for Redcar and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Jones worked briefly as a Press Officer for the Labour Party during the 1997 general election.
Jones later became Head of Campaigns at the housing charity Shelter. During that time Shelter won the PR award for best public affairs campaign. [14] She was later appointed Head of Public Affairs for the NHS Confederation. [15]
Jones served as a senior civil servant and was part of the team delivering the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games. Jones worked with Tessa Jowell,who was Minister for the Olympics at the time,and continued as a senior civil servant under Jeremy Hunt,the then Secretary of State for Culture,Olympics,Media and Sport. [16] [17]
Jones oversaw Government communications for the Olympics,attended COBRA,and managed a large team of civil servants and communications professionals from across Government departments.
After leaving the Civil Service in 2012,Jones worked in a series of roles in the public and private sector,including at Gatwick Airport,where she campaigned for a second runway.
Jones remained close with Jowell,and in 2018 led a debate in the House of Commons paying tribute to Jowell's fight against brain cancer and her campaign for improved cancer treatment. [18] Jones continued to campaign in the wake of Jowell's death,prompting the government to launch the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM). [19] [20] Upon its launch,Jones was appointed to the Joint Strategy Board of the TJBCM. [21]
Parliamentary career
Jones was selected to contest the marginal Croydon Central constituency at the 2015 general election. Despite achieving a 5.9% swing to Labour,Jones narrowly lost by 165 votes to the incumbent Conservative MP Gavin Barwell. [22]
At the 2017 general election,she defeated Barwell with a majority of 5,652 votes. [23] Jones's victory made further headlines due to Barwell publishing a book titled How to Win a Marginal Seat after his 2015 victory. [24]
Jones made her maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate on the Grenfell Tower fire. Jones criticised politicians' failure to listen to Grenfell victims before the disaster,and called on the Government to retrofit sprinklers in all council tower blocks. [25] The speech received widespread coverage for being the first time Croydon rapper Stormzy was quoted in Parliament,with Jones warning MPs:"You're never too big for the boot." [26] [27] [28]
After highlighting the rise in knife crime in Croydon during the general election campaign,Jones has run a campaign calling for a stronger Government response to knife crime across the UK. [29] She launched the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Knife Crime in September 2017,being elected as the group's Chair. [30] At its launch over 30 MPs and Peers joined the group,which is supported by charities Redthread and Barnardo's. The APPG's stated aims are to 'look in detail at the root causes of knife crime –with particular focus on prevention and early intervention'. [31] Whilst Jones chaired the APPG on Knife Crime,she published a report on the role of youth services in tackling knife crime. This research has been referenced many times in Parliament. [32]
Under Jones' chairmanship,the APPG also published a report on the link between school exclusions and knife crime,which found that children who have been excluded from school may be at serious risk of involvement in knife crime and youth violence. [33] [34]
Jones was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Healey,Labour's Shadow Housing Secretary in January 2018,and was subsequently promoted to Shadow Housing Minister in 2018,succeeding Tony Lloyd. From the Labour frontbench,Jones has called on the Government to implement fire safety reform and secure protections for leaseholders. Together with John Healey,she published 'Ending the Scandal:Labour's New Deal for Leaseholders' in July 2019. She was re-elected in the December 2019 election,again for Croydon. [35]
She backed Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election. [36] In April 2020,Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer appointed Jones as Shadow Minister for Police and the Fire Service.
Jones led the Fire Safety Act 2021 through Parliament and tabled amendments to prevent fire safety remediation costs being passed on to leaseholders. The Government agreed to Jones' amendments to implement the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 Recommendations by October 2021. [37]
As Labour's Shadow Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service,Jones led Labour's response to the Police,Crime,Sentencing and Courts Bill in Parliament. Jones tabled various measures to improve the Bill,including amendments to better protect the rights of victims,protect key workers,support the police,learn the lessons from serious violence,safeguard children,prevent violence against women and girls and tackle child criminal exploitation across the county. Jones also tabled a series of amendments to ensure there is proper consideration of disproportionality before Serious Violence Reduction Orders can come into force.
Jones led Labour's response to the Public Order Bill as Shadow Policing Minister,leading multiple attempts to mitigate some of the Bill's potential adverse impacts and create appropriate safeguards.
She also led a campaign in Parliament to protect retail workers through a change in the law that would create a standalone offence and a 12-month prison sentence for abuse,threats,and violence against retail workers.
In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle,she was given the new role of Shadow Minister for Industry and Decarbonisation. [38]
Views
On rising rates of knife crime,Jones has said, [39]
While parliamentary farce and stalemate continues, the reality for our country is regression. The most visceral symptom is the continuing epidemic of knife violence. Across the country children are arming themselves and dying on our streets. What bigger symbol could there be of a generation abandoned and all aspiration lost? [40]
Jones lists Mo Mowlam as a political hero, and in March 2023 spoke at the opening of the Mo Mowlam Cinematic Arts Studio at Ulster University. [41] In her speech, she spoke of Mowlam's resolute commitment to peace in Northern Ireland. Mowlam's starting point, according to Jones, was her 'total joy of humanity...a pragmatism to get things moving' and a commitment to working 'the common ground'. [42]
Before her election, Jones commented on the makeup of the House of Commons. She said 'I think everybody accepts that in Parliament the imbalance is still there. There are not enough women, there are not enough BME backgrounds, there not enough people with disabilities...Parliament doesn't reflect the people that they are there to serve and I think if you have all those different perspectives in the room, you will have a better conversation and better quality results.' [43]
Jones believes in freedom of choice to have an abortion. During the passage of the Public Order Act, Jones gave vocal support from the Labour frontbench to amendments delivering so-called 'buffer zones' around abortion clinics. [44] The amendments were later passed into law.
