John Paul Jenkins (born 1981) is a local politician in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, in the

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. He is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 ...

for the Elli ward of

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, and a

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

lor for the same ward on

Llanelli Town Council Llanelli Town Council (Welsh - ''Cyngor Tref Llanelli'') is the community council that governs the majority of wards in Llanelli town. The Council is run by a group or groups who command the support of the majority of the elected representatives. ...

. He stood for election as a candidate of 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 ...

for both authorities.

Background

Jenkins was educated at Graig Comprehensive School, Llanelli, before studying social policy at the

University of Wales, Swansea Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

Political career

Jenkins was elected at the

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

on 10 June 2004. As of 2006, he was the youngest elected representative in Carmarthenshire. Before becoming a councillor, Jenkins was chosen by the Conservative Party in 2002 to be its candidate for the

constituency at the 2003 election to the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

. However, in March 2003, just two months before polling day, Jenkins was reported to have made

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

remarks on an

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. The story was first reported in the ''Western Mail'' and subsequently on the BBC Wales news. Jenkins withdrew his candidacy although he claimed that his remarks had been taken out of context and that, "a lot of selective editing was carried out somewhere between my actual comments being made and the reporting of my remarks in the ''Western Mail'' and subsequently the BBC." Later in 2003, Jenkins started his campaign for election to Carmarthenshire County Council. Running with the slogan "Standing up for Llanelli" Jenkins won election to Carmarthenshire County Council and Llanelli Town Council in 2004. As of 2006, he serves on Carmarthenshire County Council's Planning Committee and Social Justice Scrutiny Committee, the latter being the committee that scrutinises the Council's

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

policies. He is also a Carmarthenshire Local Education Authority appointed governor of Bryngwyn Comprehensive School in Dafen, Llanelli. He also serves on Llanelli Town Council's Selwyn Samuel Management Committee and is a Minor Authority appointed governor of Old Road County Primary School in Llanelli.

Second resignation

On 15 February 2006, Jenkins was selected by the Conservative Party to contest the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency, in the

2007 Welsh Assembly election 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 Scottis ...

. However, the following day, Jenkins resigned as a Conservative candidate for the second time, on orders of Conservative leader David Cameron, because of his 2003 homophobic comments. Jenkins subsequently announced that following his resignation as a candidate he was also quitting the Conservative Party because of what he saw as the Conservative Party's unfair treatment towards him. At the 2008 county council election Jenkins was re-elected by the Elli ward, but standing as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. In August 2012 Jenkins got into trouble again for his comments on social media when he suggested on

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to an unemployed woman that she get work as an escort, then describing a well-known footballer as a "pervert". A complaint was made to the

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (in Welsh ''Ombwdsmon Gwasanaethau Cyhoeddus Cymru'') was established bsection 1(1)of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005. The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales brings together the jurisdictio ...

References

* News stories relating to alleged homophobia

* Reports of second resignation

* Scotsman.com article published before Jenkins' resignatio

* Official Conservative Party website noting Jenkins' election as a Conservative Councillor in 200

Accessed 19 March 2006

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, John 1981 births Living people Councillors in Wales People from Llanelli Members of Carmarthenshire County Council