Nigel David Jones, Baron Jones of Cheltenham (30 March 1948 – 7 November 2022) was a British

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 to 2005, and as a member of the House of Lords from 2005 until his death in 2022.

Early life

Nigel Jones was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

on 30 March 1948. He attended Prince Henry's Grammar School, Evesham. After leaving school, he worked as a

computer operator A computer operator is a role in IT which oversees the running of computer systems, ensuring that the machines, and computers are running properly. The job of a computer operator as defined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics is to ...

for

Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it continued to exist as a dormant registered non-trading company until 4 July 2017 when it ...

from 1965 to 1967, and then as a

computer programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

at International Computers Limited (ICL) from 1967 to 1970. From 1970 to 1971, he worked as a

systems analyst A systems analyst, also known as business technology analyst, is an information technology (IT) professional who specializes in analyzing, designing and implementing information systems. Systems analysts assess the suitability of information syst ...

at Vehicle and General Insurance, and as a systems programmer at Atkins Computing, before he rejoined ICL as a

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined f ...

in 1971. From 1989, Jones was a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is a county council which administers the most strategic local government services in the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in the South West of England. The council's principal functions are county road ...

. He resigned from both ICL and Gloucestershire County Council in 1992, when he was elected to Parliament.

Parliamentary career

Jones was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

at the 1992 general election, winning the seat from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He had previously contested the seat unsuccessfully at the 1979 general election. Jones was a member of the public accounts committee from 2002-05. He was also the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for a number of topics, including local government (1992–93), sport science and technology (1993), consumer affairs (1995-97), sport and culture (1997–99), trade and industry (1997–99) and international development (1999). Jones retained the seat until standing down at the 2005 general election.

Attack

On 28 January 2000, a man, later identified as Robert Ashman, entered Jones's constituency office and attacked him and his assistant, local County councillor

Andrew Pennington Andrew James Pennington (1 February 1960 – 28 January 2000) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and a posthumous recipient of the George Medal in 2001. He was a Gloucestershire County Councillor from 1985 until his death in a stabbing ...

, with a

katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...

. As a result of the attack, Pennington was killed, and Jones was severely injured. Jones required 57 stitches to close wounds to his hand from the assault. Jones had written a character reference for Ashman when Ashman was nearly jailed after breaking the ribs of a tax collector in 1992. After the attack at Jones's office, Ashman was charged with

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

and attempted murder, but the jury at his trial found him to be mentally unfit to stand trial. He was detained in Broadmoor for observation, and the Home Office authorised a further trial in September 2002. He was subsequently found guilty of attempted murder, and he admitted to Pennington's manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in 2003. Pennington was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

for his attempts to protect Jones.

Peerage

On 13 May 2005, it was announced that Jones would be created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

, and he was subsequently elevated to the peerage on 20 June 2005 as Baron Jones of Cheltenham, of

in the County of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. As well as many outside interests, he acted as a non-executive consultant for BFC Marcomms Ltd, a Wiltshire-based public relations consultancy.

Personal life and death

Jones married Katherine Grinnell in 1981 at the British Embassy,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. They had a son, Sam, and twin daughters, Amy and Lucy. Jones died during

heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

on 7 November 2022, at the age of 74.

Arms

In popular culture

In '' Official Secrets'', a 2019 British-American docudrama film, Jones is portrayed by

Chris Larkin Chris Larkin (born Christopher Stephens, 19 June 1967) is an English actor. Early life Born Christopher Larkin Stephens on 19 June 1967 in London, Larkin is the elder son of actors Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Robert Stephens. His younger bro ...