Lynne Jones

Parliamentary career Jones was first elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general election. She was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and took part in almost all of the backbench rebellions against the Labour government, describing herself in 2006 as "one of the usual suspects" among the backbenchers.

Jones was Chair of the Parliamentary Forum on Transsexualism, and is a patron of Press for Change. From 1993–2001 she was on the Science and Technology Select Committee. During the 2005–10 parliament she was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. She also chaired the Socialist Campaign Group.

Leadership challenge In February 2006, she announced her intention to stand against then Chancellor Gordon Brown in the Labour Party leadership contest expected to follow Prime Minister Tony Blair's resignation if nobody else did, so that Brown could not simply be "crowned". Subsequently, Socialist Campaign Group Chair John McDonnell attempted to stand instead, but failed to gain enough nominations from MPs and Brown was unopposed.

Retirement Following boundary changes in Birmingham, which reduced its parliamentary representation from eleven to ten seats, Jones was expected to apply for selection for the redrawn Selly Oak constituency which contained wards from the former Selly Oak and Hall Green constituencies. However, in January 2007 Jones announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election. Jones refused to endorse Roger Godsiff in Hall Green, instead supporting the Respect candidate Salma Yaqoob, who came second.

Later political activity Following her retirement from the House of Commons in 2010, Jones re-founded the Labour branch in Brecon and Radnorshire. In May 2024, she joined the Green Party of England and Wales after unsuccessfully backing ex-Labour independent Jamie Driscoll in the North East mayoral election.

Personal life She is married, and has two sons. She married Chris Kirk in April 1994 in Lambeth. He is Chief Executive of the Biochemical Society.

In November 2009, she announced she was having treatment for breast cancer after a tumour was discovered at an early stage.