Darren Jones

Darren Paul Jones (born 13 November 1986) is a British Labour politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol North West in the 2017 general election, which he won with 50.7% of the vote.

Background
Born at Southmead Hospital, Jones grew up in Lawrence Weston, Bristol in the 1980s and 90s. He attended Avon Primary School and Portway Community School, where he first became involved in community politics in a bid to save his school sixth form from closure.

After sitting his A-levels at the Bristol Post-16 Centre in South Bristol, Jones read for a degree in Human Bioscience at Plymouth University with a particular focus on immunology. At the end of his degree, Jones was elected as the President of the University of Plymouth Students' Union. Jones has previously been Chair of Governors at Nova Primary School (formally Avon Primary), led a mentoring programme with Oasis Academy Brightstowe (formally Portway School), was a trustee at the Shirehampton Community Action Forum and the North Bristol Advice Centre in Lockleaze

Professional career
Jones worked in the National Health Service for many years in Bristol and Plymouth, including at the Southmead and Henbury Family Practice. He served as a governor on the boards of the Plymouth NHS Trust and Plymouth University, and was a weekly newspaper columnist with the Plymouth Herald.

Jones later secured a training contract from Bond Dickinson LLP, securing his place as a trainee solicitor. He completed his legal studies in Bristol at the University of the West of England and the College of Law before qualifying as a telecommunications and technology solicitor. He developed an advisory practice working across the energy and communications sector, and led his firms Smart Cities group. Jones also started a successful mentoring programme in Bristol, bringing young people from his old school in Lawrence Weston into the legal profession.

After three years working at Bond Dickinson LLP in Bristol, Jones took a job with BT plc in London. It was during this time that he extended his European law expertise and became increasingly involved in leading EU legislative projects with other communications companies, including the EU wide review of consumer rights law. During the EU Referendum, Jones was the National Chair of a group of young lawyers campaigning to Remain and is still a board member of U.K. Legal Futures, which brings together leading lawyers to advise politicians and civil servants on the legal questions surrounding Brexit.

Political career
Jones first got involved in Labour Party politics as the leader of Labour Students at Plymouth University. He interned for Linda Gilroy MP and Alison Seabeck MP before being selected to be the Labour Party candidate for Torridge & West Devon at the 2010 General Election.

A Co-operative Party and Unite the Union member, Jones served on the national youth committees of both organisations before his election onto the Regional Political Committee of Unite the Union in the South West.

In 2012, Jones won the selection to become the Labour Party candidate for his home constituency of Bristol North West for the 2015 General Election. As a national target seat for the Labour Party, Bristol North West fought a high-profile but unsuccessful campaign against Conservative incumbent Charlotte Leslie bringing the party from third to second place. Jones campaigned on being the first MP for Bristol North West to have been born and raised there, and against alleged Conservative Party plans to introduce charges into the National Health Service.

Following the 2015 General Election, Jones joined the Labour Party leadership campaign of Andy Burnham as the South West coordinator before chairing the successful selection and election campaigns of the Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees. Jones then joined the Remain campaign and the Hillary Clinton for President campaign, working in Miami.

Outside of elections, Jones is the director of Future Labour, a think tank focusing on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Jones has a particular interest in technology, the digital economy and the future of work.

Parliamentary career
Following the announcement of the 2017 General Election, Jones was re-selected as the Labour Party candidate for Bristol North West. He won a surprise victory with a 16.2% swing gaining over 10,000 more votes from the previous General Election and securing 51% of the vote (27,000).

Following his election, Jones stated that stopping or mitigating Brexit was his number one priority, Jones now sits on the European Scrutiny Committee. Jones also works on activity related to the digital economy, technology and the environment as a Member of the Science & Technology Select Committee. Jones is also involved in cross-party parliamentary groups, such as the Parliamentary Information, Communications and Technology Forum (“PICTFOR”), and the All Party Parliamentary Group (“APPG”) on Consumer Rights.

Jones has spoken on numerous occasions about the need for greater investment in the Bristol North West infrastructure network, championing local rail projects including the Henbury Loop line. Jones has also championed, and raised awareness of, the issues of Modern Slavery, gender inequality and sexual harassment. Jones has also advocated electronic voting in elections to reduce costs and boost turnout, Jones has championed Bristol as a trial area. S