Laura Anne Jones | |
---|---|
Member of the Senedd for South Wales East | |
Assumed office 6 July 2020 [1] | |
Preceded by | Mohammad Asghar |
In office 1 May 2003 –3 May 2007 | |
Preceded by | Phil Williams |
Succeeded by | Mohammad Asghar |
Personal details | |
Born | Newport,Wales | 21 February 1979
Political party | Conservative |
Residence(s) | Cardiff Bay,Wales |
Alma mater | University of Plymouth |
Website | www |
Laura Anne Jones (born 21 February 1979) is a Conservative politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the South Wales East electoral region since July 2020,having previously held the same seat as an Assembly Member (AM) in the National Assembly for Wales between 2003 and 2007. Jones also served as a county councillor for the Wyesham ward in Monmouthshire County Council from 2017 to 2022. [2]
The daughter of a farmer and a lecturer,Jones was born in Newport and brought up in Monmouthshire. She attended the University of Plymouth,where she studied politics.
She joined the Conservatives in 1996 and was involved in Conservative Future,the party's youth wing.
Elected to the Assembly at the 2003 election to represent South Wales East,she was the youngest member of the Assembly. She was appointed as the Conservative spokeswoman on sport,and sat on the Culture,Sport and Welsh Language,and Local Government and Public Services committees. Her profile was increased when she appeared on the BBC television programme Question Time in February 2004.
Jones lost her seat in the Assembly in the 2007 Assembly election when Plaid Cymru gained one seat in the South Wales East region at the expense of the Conservatives.
At the 2015 general election she contested the safe Labour seat of Islwyn for the Conservatives and finished third with 5,366 votes. [3] In the 2017 Welsh local elections she was elected to the Wyesham ward on Monmouthshire County Council winning 42% of the vote. [4] At the 2019 general election she contested the Labour seat of Blaenau Gwent for the Conservatives and finished third with 5,749 votes. [5]
Following the death of Mohammad Asghar in June 2020,it was confirmed in July 2020 that Jones would become the MS for South Wales East,having been the next Conservative candidate on the regional list in the Assembly's 2016 election. [6] [7]
She was re-elected at the 2021 Senedd election.
In 2021,past Facebook posts from Jones surfaced in which she said "I would like to do a spot of Chav shooting" and "a shame that isn't legal." [8] Jones apologised for the comments.
She did not contest the 2022 Monmouthshire County Council elections. [9] Her previous ward,Wyesham,elected an independent candidate. [10]
In May 2024 it was reported that Ms Jones was being investigated by both South Wales Police and the Senedd’s Standards Commissioner for allegedly falsifying expenses claims. [11]
Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing,Welsh nationalist political party in Wales,committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Politics in Wales forms a distinctive polity in the wider politics of the United Kingdom,with Wales as one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK).
South Wales East is an electoral region of the Senedd,consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members,eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999,when the National Assembly for Wales was created.
There are four types of elections in Wales:elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom,elections to the devolved Senedd,local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas,and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day,which is conventionally a Thursday. Three of these four types of elections are held after fixed periods;the exception is UK general elections,the timing of which is at the discretion of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Senedd elections may be postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.
The Welsh Conservatives is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections,it is the second-most popular political party in Wales,having obtained the second-largest share of the vote at every general election since 1931. In Senedd elections,the Conservatives are currently the second-most supported party but have at times been third. They hold 14 of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament,and 16 of the 60 seats in the Senedd.
Mohammad Asghar,known as Oscar,was a Welsh politician who was a Member of the Senedd for South Wales East. He was a member of the Welsh Conservatives,and previously of Welsh Labour,and Plaid Cymru.
Politics of Cardiff refers to the political representation of the city of Cardiff,capital of Wales. Cardiff is represented politically at a local,Wales and United Kingdom level and previously at the European level.
The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland,as well as the Scottish Parliament election took place. This election was preceded by the previous Assembly election in 2003.
Janet Elizabeth Finch-Saunders is a Welsh Conservative Party politician. She is the Member of the Senedd for the Aberconwy constituency.
William "Bill" Powell is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician. He has been a Powys County Councillor since 2004,and was a member of the Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the Mid and West Wales Region from 2011 to 2016.
The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party,or in Wales,simply Abolish,is a registered single issue political party in Wales. It campaigns for the abolition of the Senedd,formerly known as the "National Assembly for Wales",the devolved legislature of Wales. Abolish advocates that devolved powers be returned to the Secretary of State for Wales within the UK Central Government and the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster.
Neil John McEvoy is a Welsh nationalist politician,serving as leader of Propel since 2020,and as a Cardiff Councillor for the Fairwater ward since 2008.
The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd. It was the sixth devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Scottish Parliament election,English local elections,London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
Mandy Jones is a British former politician and farmer who was a Member of the Senedd (MS) for North Wales from 2017 to 2021. Jones was elected for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) but sat as an independent politician within the Senedd from early January 2018 until May 2019,when she joined the Brexit Party. In October 2020 she joined the Independent Alliance for Reform group.
Heledd Fychan is a Welsh politician and a former director of policy and political education for Plaid Cymru. She was elected to the Senedd for the South Wales Central region in May 2021.
Peter Alan Fox OBE is a British Conservative politician who is the Shadow Minister for Finance in the Senedd. Fox was Leader of Monmouthshire County Council from 2008 until May 2021,when he was elected as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for the Monmouth constituency.
Tom Giffard is a Welsh Conservative politician who has served as Member of the Senedd (MS) for the region of South Wales West since 2021.
Natasha Asghar is a Welsh Conservative Party politician who represents South Wales East in the Senedd since the 2021 Senedd election. Her father Mohammad Asghar represented the same constituency until his death in 2020. She is the first female ethnic minority member of the Senedd. She was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2021. She stood for the Conservative Party's nomination for Mayor of London in the 2024 mayoral election,but was not shortlisted.
The 2022 Welsh local elections took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of all twenty-two local authorities in Wales. They were held alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. The previous elections were held in 2017.
The 2022 Carmarthenshire County Council election took place on Thursday 5 May 2022 to elect 75 members to Carmarthenshire Council. On the same day,elections were held to the other 21 local authorities and to community councils in Wales as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections.