Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

political commentator A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

, journalist,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for '' The Guardian'' and contributes to the '' New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two weekly web series, ''The Owen Jones Show'', and ''The Owen Jones Podcast''. He was previously a columnist for '' The Independent''.

Early life and education

Jones was born in Sheffield,

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

and grew up in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is withi ...

, Greater Manchester and briefly in Falkirk. His father, Rob Jones, was a local authority worker and trade union shop steward, and his mother, Ruth Aylett, is a professor of computer science (initially at the University of Salford and currently

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

). His paternal grandparents were from North Wales and his father began learning English at the age of six. He has a twin sister, Eleanor, and two older brothers, Ben and Mark. He describes himself as a "fourth-generation socialist"; his grandfather was involved with the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

and his parents met as members of the Trotskyist

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

group. Jones attended Bramhall High School and Ridge Danyers Sixth Form College and studied history at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, graduating with a BA in 2005 and a

Master of Studies The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of ...

in US History in 2007. Before entering journalism, he worked as a trade union

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

and a parliamentary researcher for the Labour Party MP

John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...

. At one point he was also hired by the historian Eric Hobsbawm to index and archive his papers.

Writings and public career

Columnist, broadcaster and writer

Jones is a weekly columnist for ''The Guardian'' after switching from '' The Independent'' in March 2014. His work has appeared in the '' New Statesman'', the '' Sunday Mirror'', '' Le Monde diplomatique'' and several publications with lower circulations. He writes from a left-wing perspective. In 2011, Jones published his first book, '' Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class'', dissecting cultural stereotypes of the British working-class as boorish and anti-social "

chav "Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. * * * * "Chavette" is a related t ...

s". The book was selected by critic

Dwight Garner Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...

of '' The New York Times'' as one of his top 10 non-fiction books of 2011, and it was long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award. '' The Independent on Sunday'' named Jones as one of its top 50 Britons of 2011, for the manner in which his book raised the profile of class-based issues. In November 2012, Jones was awarded Journalist of the Year at the Stonewall

Awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

, along with '' The Times'' journalist

Hugo Rifkind Hugo James Rifkind (born 30 March 1977) is a British journalist. A columnist for ''The Times'' since 2005, he began presenting a Saturday morning programme on Times Radio in July 2020. He has been a regular guest on ''The News Quiz'', on BBC Rad ...

. Jones' second book, '' The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It'', was published in September 2014. '' The Daily Telegraph'' placed Jones 7th in its 2013 list of Britain's most influential left-wingers. In February 2013, when Jones was awarded the Young Writer of the Year prize at the Political Book Award, he donated half the £3,000 prize money to support the campaign of Lisa Forbes, a Labour parliamentary candidate, and the other half to

Disabled People Against Cuts Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is an organisation based in the United Kingdom for disabled people and allies to campaign against the impact of government spending cuts on the lives of disabled people. Formed on 3 October 2010 DPAC promote ...

. In an interview with '' The Student Journals'', Jones commented that some have accused him of using politics only to raise his own profile and that he risks being seen as a "lefty rent-a-gob". Owen Jones at Policy Exchange

Jones spoke at a press conference to launch the People's Assembly Against Austerity on 26 March 2013, and regional public meetings in the lead-up to a national meeting at

Central Hall Westminster The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...

on 22 June 2013. In November 2013, he delivered the Royal Television Society's Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture, ''Totally Shameless: How TV Portrays the Working Class''. In 2013 Jones praised Hugo Chavez and his handling of the Venezuelan economy, and criticised characterisations of Venezuela as a dictatorship. In 2014 he reaffirmed his belief in Venezuela's democracy. As the economic crisis and unrest in Venezuela intensified, Jones was criticised for his support of the Venezuelan government. Jones is a republican. Jones' television appearances include '' Jeremy Vine'', ''

Politics Live ''Politics Live'' is a BBC News political programme which launched on 3 September 2018. It is presented by Jo Coburn and features at least four guests debating the political stories of the day, as well as reports and other content. It is broadc ...

'', '' Good Morning Britain'' and '' University Challenge''.

YouTube show and podcast

In December 2020, Jones began hosting a weekly web series, ''The Owen Jones Show'', where he talks to guests from across the political spectrum. New episodes are uploaded to his YouTube channel every Sunday. He also launched ''The Owen Jones Podcast'' the following month, with guests including Stewart Lee, Noam Chomsky, Michael Sheen and

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...

2019 assault

In August 2019, Jones and his friends were attacked outside a London pub. In January 2020, one of the three attackers was found guilty of

aggravated assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...

, with the judge concluding that Jones, who is gay, was targeted for his LGBT identity and left-wing beliefs; the other two perpetrators were convicted of

affray In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place to the terror (in french: à l'effroi) of ordinary people. Depending on their act ...

Honours

In 2012, Jones was Stonewall Journalist of the Year and in 2013, he was Political Book Awards Young Writer of the Year. In 2015, Jones was awarded the

Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

Doctor of the University An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad ho ...

(DUniv) by Staffordshire University. In November 2021, Jones received an LGBTQ Mental Health Award from charity Mind Out LGBTQ.

Books

* * * *

References

External links

Articles in ''The Guardian''

Articles in the ''New Statesman''Official website
*
Articles in ''The Independent''

YouTube channel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Owen 1984 births Living people Alumni of University College, Oxford British media critics British political commentators English atheists English columnists English feminists English humanists English male non-fiction writers English non-fiction writers English republicans British republicans English social commentators English socialists English people of Welsh descent European democratic socialists Gay feminists British gay writers LGBT journalists from the United Kingdom LGBT writers from England Labour Party (UK) people British opinion journalists People educated at Bramhall High School Writers from Sheffield People from Stockport English socialist feminists The Guardian journalists The Independent people Victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes