Darren Jones (politician)

Jones was born in north Bristol, at Southmead Hospital, and grew up in Lawrence Weston and Shirehampton.[4] He attended Avon Primary School and Portway Community School [5] and studied for A Levels at the Bristol Post-16 Centre before going up to the University of Plymouth, where he received a human bioscience degree and was subsequently elected President of the Students' Union.[6][1]

Jones worked in the National Health Service in Bristol and Plymouth, including at the Southmead and Henbury Family Practice.[5] He served as a governor on the boards of Plymouth University and the Plymouth NHS Trust, and had a weekly newspaper column in the Plymouth Herald.

Jones later studied at the University of the West of England, where he was awarded the graduate diploma in law before completing the legal practice course at the University of Law.[1] He was admitted as a solicitor in 2013.

Jones specialises in technology law, and initially worked at Womble Bond Dickinson LLP in Bristol between 2013 and 2016, where he developed an advisory practice in the energy and telecommunications sectors, later moving to London to become an in-house counsel with BT between 2015 and 2017,[6] advising on data, privacy, cyber-security, telecommunications and consumer law.[7]

In Bristol, Jones started a successful mentoring programme seeking to bring young people from his old school in Lawrence Weston into the legal profession. He later chaired the Young Lawyers’ Network, a nationwide group campaigning for a vote to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum,[8] and sat on the board of UK Legal Futures, which brought together leading lawyers to advise politicians and civil servants on legal questions raised by Brexit.[9]

Jones fought what he identifies as his first campaign while at school, in a push to prevent the planned closure of his local sixth-form college. He chaired his university's Labour Students branch and, following internships with local MPs Alison Seabeck and Linda Gilroy, was selected as Labour's candidate in the Conservative-held Torridge and West Devon seat at the 2010 general election. Jones sat on the national youth committees of the Co-operative Party and Unite the Union and was later elected to Unite's Regional Committee in the South West.[10]

In 2012 Jones was selected to contest his home constituency of Bristol North West, which had been gained by the Conservatives in 2010 with Labour falling into third place. At the subsequent election in 2015, Jones emphasised the need for investment in the National Health Service as well as his local credentials — he would have been, and later became, the constituency's first MP to be born and raised there. Although Jones increased the Labour vote share by 9 percent, the incumbent MP Charlotte Leslie was re-elected on the back of a national swing to the Conservatives.

Following the election, Jones joined the campaign of Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham as its South West Co-ordinator, and chaired Marvin Rees’ successful campaign to become Mayor of Bristol.[11] In 2016 he joined the Remain campaign in the EU membership referendum and later worked for the Clinton campaign in Miami during that year's US Presidential election.[12]

At 2017's snap general election, Jones took an absolute majority of the vote on a 9.2 percent swing,[13] a surprise victory he credits in part to his outspoken opposition to Brexit in the heavily remain-voting constituency. In his maiden speech, Jones noted that he was the first Darren ever elected to Parliament.[14]

Jones was re-elected at the 2019 general election, bucking the national trend by increasing his majority at an election which saw a significant nationwide swing to the Conservatives.[15] In the subsequent leadership election, he nominated Jess Phillips and, following her withdrawal from the race, backed Keir Starmer.

In Parliament, Jones has spoken about the persistence of gender inequality and prevalence of sexual harassment.[16][17] and was an active supporter for the introduction of proxy voting in the House of Commons to allow MPs to take parental leave.[18] On 19 February 2019 he led a Westminster Hall debate calling for universal state funded childcare.[19] Jones is the Chair of Labour Friends of India,[20] and a parliamentary supporter of Labour Friends of Israel.[21]

Following Starmer's election as Labour leader in April 2020, Jones was appointed PPS jointly to Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy and Shadow Attorney General Charlie Falconer,[22] and served until his election as Chair of the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee on 6 May. In his capacity as a committee chair Jones sits on the National Security Strategy Joint Committee and Liaison Committee.

Jones is married to renewable energy lobbyist and technology entrepreneur Lucy Symons-Jones, who co-founded renewable energy company Village Infrastructure. They have two daughters.[1]

Jones is a jazz saxophonist and a vegan,[36] also serving as vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and Veganism.

• Darren Jones MP website

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou