Sarah Jones (politician)

Sarah Jones
MP
Official parliamentary portrait, June 2017
Member of Parliament
for Croydon Central
Assumed office
9 June 2017
Preceded by Gavin Barwell
Majority 5,652 (9.9%)
Personal details
Born Sarah Ann Jones
(1972-12-20) 20 December 1972
Croydon, England
Political party Labour
Alma mater University of Durham
Website sarah-jones.org

Sarah Ann Jones (20 December 1972)[1] is a British Labour Party politician.[2] She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon Central[3] since the 2017 general election.[4][5] She was appointed as Shadow Minister for Housing in May 2018.

Life and career

Jones was born and brought up in Croydon.[6] She was educated at Old Palace School in Croydon and at Durham University, where she read History.[7]

Jones joined the Labour Party in 1992 after watching Conservative MP Peter Lilley, then the Secretary of State at the Department of Social Security, make a speech to the Conservative 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.[8]

A former Head of Campaigns at the housing charity Shelter, Jones worked for Labour MP and Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam and later ran campaigns at the NHS Confederation.[9]

Jones was part of the team delivering the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games working with Tessa Jowell, who was Minister for the Olympics at the time.[10][11] She remained close with Jowell, and in 2018 Jones led a debate in the House of Commons paying tribute to Jowell's fight against brain cancer and her campaign for improved cancer treatment.[12]

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 lost by 165 votes to the incumbent Conservative Gavin Barwell.[13]

At the 2017 General Election, she successfully fought the seat and defeated Barwell gaining a majority of 5,652 votes.[14] Jones's victory made further headlines due to Barwell publishing a book titled 'How to Win a Marginal Seat' after his 2015 victory.[15]

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.[16] 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."[17][18][19]

After highlighting the rise in knife crime in Croydon during the General Election, Jones has run a campaign calling for a stronger Government response to knife crime across the UK.[20] She launched the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Knife Crime in September 2017, being elected as the group's Chair.[21] 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'.[22]

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.

Personal life

Jones has four children and has lived in Croydon all her life.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ "Sarah Jones MP". myparliament.info. MyParliament. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sarah Jones (Croydon Central)". London Borough of Croydon. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Sarah Jones MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Croydon Central". Election 2017. BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Booth, Samantha (9 June 2017). "Labour winner Sarah Jones thanks Theresa May for calling the general election". Croydon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Tobin, Olivia (9 June 2017). "Who is Sarah Jones? What do we know about Croydon’s first female MP". Croydon Advertiser. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Jones, Sarah. ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Baynes, Chris (5 May 2015). "ELECTION 2015: How her babies' fight for life and a song from The Mikado shaped Labour's Sarah Jones". Croydon Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  9. ↑ Tobin, Olivia (2017-06-09). "Who is Sarah Jones? What we know about Croydon's first female MP". croydonadvertiser. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  10. ↑ ""It's a hugely humbling position to be in – and very scary": Sarah Jones on being Croydon's newest MP – The Croydon Citizen". The Croydon Citizen. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  11. ↑ "17 From '17: Labour's Sarah Jones On How She Refused To Be Demonised As A Teenage Mum". HuffPost UK. 2017-12-14. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  12. ↑ Perkins, Anne (2018-04-19). "Tessa Jowell hailed as an inspiration during MPs' cancer debate". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  13. ↑ Lynch, Russell (8 May 2015). "Croydon Central election results: Tory Gavin Barwell clings on to seat by 165 votes". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Croydon Central parliamentary constituency – Election 2017". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Tory housing minister who wrote book on how to win marginal seat loses marginal seat". The Independent. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  16. ↑ "New MP Jones challenges Tories to pay for sprinklers". Inside Croydon. 2017-07-13. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  17. ↑ "Watch a Labour MP quote Stormzy lyrics in the House Of Commons – NME". NME. 2017-07-12. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  18. ↑ "Music News LIVE: Stormzy makes political history". BBC Music Events. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  19. ↑ "STORMZY JUST MADE POLITICAL HISTORY". Grime Daily. 14 July 2017.
  20. ↑ Younge, Gary (2017-10-18). "UK needs coordinated strategy to tackle knife crime, says MP". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  21. ↑ "London MP sets up all-party group to combat knife crime". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  22. ↑ "Knife Crime debate & APPG launch". Sarah Jones MP. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
  23. ↑ "Sarah Jones's CV, Croydon Central, MP candidate". cv.democracyclub.org.uk. Democracy Club. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017.
  24. ↑ Tobin, Olivia (2017-06-09). "Who is Sarah Jones? What we know about Croydon's first female MP". croydonadvertiser. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Gavin Barwell		 Member of Parliament
for Croydon Central
2017–present		 Incumbent


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