Jones was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England and grew up in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and briefly in Falkirk, Scotland. His father was a local authority worker and trade unionshop steward, and his mother, Ruth Aylett, was an IT lecturer at the University of Salford. He describes himself as a 'fourth-generation socialist'; his grandfather was involved with the Communist Party and his parents met as members of the Trotskyist Militant group. In an article Jones wrote following his father's death in 2018, he discussed his childhood in more detail, writing that his mother was a "lifelong passionate feminist", that his parents "rejected ‘blue’ and ‘pink’ stereotyped clothing for... and that kind of thing," and that the family also worked out a "rota system" for sharing domestic chores. Jones also said that their parents taught him and his siblings a "passionate hatred of injustice and bigotry". He attended Bramhall High School and Ridge Danyers Sixth Form College before studying History at University College, Oxford, graduating with a BA in 2005 and a Master of Studies in US History in 2007. Before entering journalism, Jones worked as a trade union lobbyist and was a parliamentary researcher for the Labour Party MP John McDonnell, then a backbencher, who became Shadow Chancellor in 2015. Additionally, Jones was hired by the left-wing 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, ', dissecting cultural stereotypes of the British working-class as boorish and anti-social "chavs". The book was selected by critic Dwight Garner 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, along with The Times journalist Hugo Rifkind. Jones' second book, ', 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. 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". 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 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. Jones self-identifies as a feminist, a republican, and a humanist. Jones is gay, and strongly opposes gay conversion therapy.
2019 assault
On 17 August 2019, Jones said on Twitter that when having his birthday celebrations, he and his friends were attacked in a premeditated assault outside The Lexington, a North London pub. On 29 September 2019, the police confirmed that three men were arrested over the attack on Jones. On 10 October, the same three men were charged over the incident. In January 2020, one of the three men was found guilty of aggravated assault towards Jones.In July 2020, James Healy, one of the perpetrators, was jailed for attacking Jones.
Political opinions
Shortly after the publication of his first book, Jones asserted that he "was one of the few commentators" during the 2011 England riots who was "asked to challenge the dominant narrative that this was mindless criminality, end of story", and criticised how the aftermath was used to demonise working-class youth unjustly.
