Jon Owen Jones

Labour MP Cardiff Central

Date of birth

19 April 1954

Political profile

Jon Owen Jones entered the Commons in 1992 and was soon appointed a Labour whip, a role he also took when the party came to power in 1997.

A teacher and councillor with a background as a leading activist for devolution and a loyal Blairite, he moved up to become a junior minister at the Welsh Office in 1998.

However, his frontbench career came to an abrupt end when he was unexpectedly sacked a year later.

Since then, he has concentrated a lot of effort on attacking the Liberal Democrats in Wales, who came within 700 votes of unseating him in 2001.

His major political interest is in environmental politics and he has mobilised backbench opposition to America's reneging on Kyoto, leading calls for a boycott of companies who supported George Bush's presidential campaign.

He currently sits on the Commons environmental audit select committee.

After winning a high place in the 2001 private members' ballot, he introduced a bill seeking to legalise cannabis use.

Contact

Constituency office 029 2063 5811