Ruth Jones (politician)

Ruth Lorraine Jones (born 23 April 1962[1]) is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newport West since winning the seat at a by-election in April 2019.

This article is about Ruth Lorraine Jones, British politician. For other politicians, see Ruth Jones (disambiguation).

Ruth Jones

MP
Jones in 2020
Shadow Minister for Natural Environment and Air Quality
Assumed office
12 August 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byLloyd Russell-Moyle
Shadow Minister for Flooding & Coastal Communities
In office
15 January 2020 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byLuke Pollard
Succeeded byStephanie Peacock
Member of Parliament
for Newport West
Assumed office
5 April 2019
Preceded byPaul Flynn
Majority902 (2.1%)
Personal details
Born (1962-04-23) 23 April 1962
Gaer, Newport, Wales
Political partyLabour
Children2
EducationCardiff University
ProfessionPhysiotherapist
Politician
Websiteruthjones.wales

Background

Jones was educated at Duffryn High School in Newport.[2] After training at Cardiff University,[3] she worked as a physiotherapist in the National Health Service from 1983, eventually managing children and adult learning disability services for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.[4][5]

Political career

Jones became involved with the professional body and trade union Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) as a steward, a regional steward, then a member of the CSP Council. In 2007 she was elected president of the Wales TUC for two years. In 2016 she became a full-time senior negotiating officer for the CSP.[5][6]

Jones joined Labour "when Tony Blair was leader",[7] has "declared herself a socialist",[7] but regarding Jeremy Corbyn acknowledges that there are "strong views for him and strong views against him."[8] She describes herself however as neither a member of the Blairite Progress nor the Corbynite Momentum group.[8]

She contested Monmouth for Labour at the 2015 and 2017 general elections.[6]

Jones was placed first on the party list in South East Wales at the 2016 National Assembly election. As Labour won 7 out of the 8 single member constituencies, Labour was not entitled to any extra seats from the Additional Member list, and Jones was not elected.[9]

Jones voted to Remain in the 2016 referendum.[8] She argued following the referendum for the Prime Minister to seek a cross-party "consensus" on leaving the European Union,[8] but says she is opposed to a "damaging Tory Brexit or a no deal outcome".[8] She says that if "Parliament [is unable] to achieve a sensible Brexit", she would support a People's Vote.[8]

Jones was nominated as Labour's Parliamentary candidate for a third time, on this occasion for Newport West in January 2019[10] and was elected as an MP in April 2019 in the Newport West by-election, which had been caused by the death of the sitting Labour MP, Paul Flynn.[11] On a relatively low turnout of 37.1%, Jones took 39.6% (9,308) of the vote, although the Labour majority dropped from 5,658 (in 2017) to 1,951.[12] She was officially sworn in and took her seat in the House of Commons on 8 April 2019,[13] and made her maiden speech on 1 May 2019 in a debate on climate change.[14] Her constituency office at The Estates Office on Gold Tops was opened in June.[15]

Jones stated in 2019 that she supported the now-cancelled M4 relief road in order to relieve traffic congestion on the M4 motorway..[8]

Jones became a member of the Environmental Audit Select Committee in May 2019.[16] She has signed the Long Live the Local pledge to reduce beer duty and business rates.[17]

In August 2019 Jones joined 100 other MPs in calling for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to recall Parliament from the Summer Recess,[18] and was one of 148 Labour MPs who wrote to the Prime Minister demanding he reverse the decision to prorogue Parliament in October for a Queen's Speech prior to the October 31 Brexit date.[19] She voted in favour of the Benn Act, aimed at requiring an extension to Article 50 at the end of October to prevent a no deal exit on 31 October.[20]

Jones was re-elected in the 2019 United Kingdom general election on a slim majority of 2.1%. She was appointed to Labour's shadow Defra team, first as Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities under Corbyn, and later as Shadow Minister for Natural Environment and Air Quality under Keir Starmer. She had been serving as PPS to Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh at the time of her promotion.[21]

Personal life

Jones is married with two adult children,[8] both of whom studied at Glasllwch Primary School where she is a School Governor.[8] She lives in Allt-yr-yn with her husband and miniature dachshund named Monty.[7] She volunteers at a local night shelter scheme as well as being a member of a choir.[8]

References
  1. "Ruth JONES – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  2. "About". Ruth Jones for Newport West. Labour Party. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  3. Clews, Graham (20 February 2008). "Welsh TUC president talks about life at the top". Frontline. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  4. "Newport West by-election candidates named after death of Paul Flynn". Western Mail. 19 March 2019.
  5. "3 minutes with Ruth Jones". Frontline. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  6. Deans, David (2 April 2019). "Newport West by-election: Who are the candidates?". BBC News.
  7. Glaze, Ben (24 March 2019). "Meet Labour's candidate for Newport West – Jeremy Corbyn's next election test". mirror. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  8. Mosalski, Ruth (5 April 2019). "Who is Labour's new Newport West MP Ruth Jones?". walesonline. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  9. "2016 National Assembly for Wales election", Wikipedia, 27 March 2020, retrieved 27 March 2020
  10. "Labour chose familiar face for parliamentary candidate". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  11. "Newport West By-election results | Newport City Council". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  12. Ferguson, Sam; Craig, Ian (5 April 2019). "Full details as Labour's Ruth Jones wins Newport West by-election with more than 9,000 vote". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  13. Craig, Ian (8 April 2019). "Ruth Jones is sworn in as Newport West's new MP". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  14. Ruth Jones (1 May 2019). "Environment and Climate Change". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 265.
  15. "Newport West MP joined by long-serving former Assembly Member as she opens new constituent office". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  16. "Ruth Jones MP – UK Parliament". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  17. "Campaign to keep local pubs open get MP's backing". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  18. Grew, Tony (18 August 2019). "Recall parliament, 100 MPs demand". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  19. "148 Labour MPs send letter to PM demanding prorogation reversal". LabourList. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  20. "Here is the full list of 21 rebel Tory MPs who voted against no-deal Brexit". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  21. Rodgers, Sienna (12 August 2020). "Ruth Jones promoted to replace Lloyd Russell-Moyle in Labour's Defra team". LabourList. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
Trade union offices
Preceded by
John Burgham		 President of the Wales TUC
2007–2008		 Succeeded by
Vaughan Gething
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Paul Flynn		 Member of Parliament
for Newport West
2019–present		 Incumbent
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