Darren Jones (politician)

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Darren Jones
MP
Official portrait of Darren Jones crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2017
Chair of the Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy Select Committee
Assumed office
6 May 2020
Preceded byRachel Reeves
Member of Parliament
for Bristol North West
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byCharlotte Leslie
Majority5,692 (10.2%)
Personal details
Born
Darren Paul Jones

(1986-11-13) 13 November 1986 (age 36)
Bristol, England
Political partyLabour
SpouseLucy Symons-Jones
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Plymouth
University of the West
of England
University of Law
WebsiteOfficial website

Darren Paul Jones (born 13 November 1986)[1] is a British Labour politician serving as Chair of the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee since 2020. He also sits on the National Security Strategy Joint Committee and the Liaison Committee, which scrutinises the work of the Prime Minister. He has been the Member of Parliament for Bristol North West since 2017.[2]

Early life and education

Jones was born in his constituency of Bristol North West and grew up in Lawrence Weston. He attended Portway Community School in Shirehampton, a state comprehensive, before studying human bioscience at the University of Plymouth, where he was subsequently elected President of the Students' Union. Jones worked in the National Health Service and served on the boards of the University of Plymouth and the Plymouth NHS Trust, and had a weekly newspaper column in the Plymouth Herald. He later studied law at the University of the West of England and the University of Law in Bristol before being admitted as a solicitor.[1][3]

Legal career

Jones specialises in technology law, and initially worked at Womble Bond Dickinson LLP, before becoming an in-house counsel with BT, advising on data, privacy, cyber-security, telecommunications and consumer law.[4]

In Bristol, Jones started a successful mentoring programme seeking to bring young people from his old school 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,[5] 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.[6]

Early political career

Jones first fought a general election as Labour's candidate in Conservative-held Torridge and West Devon at the 2010 general election. Jones later sat on the national youth committees of the Co-operative Party and Unite the Union and was elected to Unite's Regional Political Committee in the South West.[7] 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. Although he 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.[citation needed]

Following the 2015 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. 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.[8]

Parliamentary career and political positions

At the 2017 general election, Jones was elected the Member of Parliament for Bristol North West, overturning a Conservative majority of 4,944 on a 9.2 percent swing.[9] In his maiden speech, Jones noted that he was the first Darren ever elected to Parliament.[10] Between 2017 and 2020, Jones was a member of the cross-party Science and Technology Committee and the European Scrutiny Committee. In 2019, then Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Tom Watson, appointed Jones as the Convenor of the Future Britain Group, which was established following a number of defections from the Labour Party in a bid to prevent further defections.[11]

Jones was re-elected at the 2019 general election, increasing his majority at an election which saw a significant nationwide swing away from the Labour Party.[12] Following Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader in April 2020, Jones was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary jointly to Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy and Shadow Attorney General Charlie Falconer,[13] and served until his election as Chair of the House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.

Through his select committee work, Jones has led on issues related to the economy, business and jobs as well as national security and climate change.

Jones has been a prominent campaigner for a number of labour disputes, including the withholding of redundancy payments from Astra Zeneca workers,[14] the campaign to increase miners' pensions through the Mineworkers Pension Scheme,[15] and the historic miscarriage of justice behind the British Post Office scandal.[16] He has criticised the Government for scrapping its industrial strategy[17] and has called for a sector deal for the steel industry.[18]

Jones sits on the National Security Strategy Joint Committee and, following the introduction of the National Security and Investment Act 2021, became responsible as Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee for holding the Government to account for its use of national security powers.[19]

Jones introduced the UK's first citizens assembly on net zero to Parliament [20] and attended COP26 in Glasgow as one of the most senior parliamentarians scrutinising Government delivery of COP26 and net zero.[21][failed verification]

In 2021, Jones successfully passed the Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021, having been successful in the ballot for a Private Members Bill, giving the forensic science regulator statutory powers to ensure service quality standards from the privatised forensic science companies working with the police.[22][23]

Jones has been recognised as a leading voice on technology policy.[24] In 2019 he co-chaired a Parliamentary inquiry into technology ethics.[25] He leads the Parliamentary Internet, Communications and Technology Forum [26] and the Data Poverty [27] and Technology and National Security All Party Parliamentary Groups.[28] In January 2021, during the Covid pandemic, he introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill seeking to force internet service providers to offer a social tariff to families in receipt of Universal Credit.[29] Jones is the founder and chair of the Institute of AI, a global network of legislators interested in emerging technology regulation, and in 2021 was appointed to the Online Safety Bill pre-legislative scrutiny committee.[30][31]

Jones is the co-chair of Labour Friends of India,[32] a parliamentary supporter of Labour Friends of Israel,[33] and chairs Labour Digital, a Labour think tank.[34]

Personal life

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

Jones became a vegan in 2014, for reasons related to carbon emissions and agriculture, although he is sometimes vegetarian.[35]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Jones, Darren Paul". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 13 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ "Darren Jones MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. ^ Ashcroft, Esme (9 June 2017). "Who is Darren Jones? All about the Labour candidate who won Bristol North West in the 2017 general election". Bristol Post. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Our alumni: Darren Jones". The University of Law. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. ^ Lawyer2B (27 March 2016). "Young lawyers campaign to keep Britain in Europe". Medium. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  6. ^ "In-House to in the House". Legal 500. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  7. ^ "PPC Profile: Darren Jones". Labour List. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  8. ^ Pipe, Ellie (21 December 2017). "A Day with Bristol North West MP Darren Jones". B24/7. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Election 2019: Bristol North West". BBC. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Bristol MP Darren Jones hails himself 'first Darren in Parliament'". BBC News. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Zeffman, Henry (12 March 2019). "Tom Watson's rebel group draws a third of Labour MPs". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  12. ^ Millett, Briana; Cameron, Amanda (13 December 2019). "Darren Jones' speech in full as he wins Bristol North West seat". BristolLive. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  13. ^ "New appointments this week in UK politics, the civil service and public affairs". Politics Home. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  14. ^ Ralph, Alex (15 July 2019). "Astrazeneca accused of betrayal over Bristol factory sale to Avara". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Mineworkers' Pension Scheme: Rejection a 'slap in the face'". BBC News. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  16. ^ Flinders, Karl (19 May 2021). "'Nothing off the table' in statutory Post Office scandal inquiry". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  17. ^ Pfeifer, Sylvia (27 June 2021). "MPs criticise UK government plan for economic recovery". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  18. ^ Jones, Alan; Maule, Will (5 November 2021). "Crisis-hit steel industry needs Government help, say MPs". WalesOnline. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Letter from Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to Darren Jones MP". 21 April 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  20. ^ "Climate Change Assembly UK: The Path To Net Zero". Hansard. 26 November 2020.
  21. ^ "PRESIDENCY EVENT: The Role of Parliaments in Climate and Nature Policy". UNFCCC - COP26. 5 November 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  22. ^ Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021 https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2616 Archived 20 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/14/contents/enacted
  24. ^ Varghese, Sanjana (3 December 2020). "Change everything: 32 innovators who are building a better future". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  25. ^ All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics (21 May 2019). "Trust, Transparency and Tech: Data and Technology Ethics Inquiry Report Launch". Policy Connect. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  26. ^ "About". PICTFOR. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  27. ^ "About". Data Poverty APPG. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Community". APPG for Technology & National Security. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Chair of UK Business Committee Pushes Social Tariff for Broadband UPDATE". ISPreview. 27 January 2021 [19 January 2021]. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  30. ^ "About". Institute of AI.
  31. ^ Bates, Joshua (26 July 2021). "The Online Safety Bill: Who you need to know and why | DeHavilland". DeHavilland. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  32. ^ "Our Team". Labour Friends of India. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019.
  33. ^ "In Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  34. ^ "Labour Digital". Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  35. ^ Fox, Killian; Tait-Hyland, Molly (22 April 2018). "The builders, the MP, and the chef: meet the new vegans". The Guardian (interview). Retrieved 10 January 2022.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Bristol North West
2017–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=Darren_Jones_(politician)&oldid=1115521778"