About Lynne

Lynne Jones was the Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak from 1992 until 2010. Before being elected to Parliament, Lynne studied Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham, earning a PhD and had several original papers published in learned journals. She joined the Labour Party in 1974 and was a Member of Birmingham city council, as well as being chair of the housing committee.

In her early life, Lynne experienced struggle, growing up with a father who suffered from a severe mental illness with her mother being the 'breadwinner'. lynne benefitted from free higher education and maintenance grants and has never forgotten what it is like to have no money at the end of the week and to worry about paying rent. these experiences guided lynne in her political career. She has recently been blessed with her first grandchild though fears that his generation will not be as fortunate as her own, which is why Lynne is passionate about tackling the climate emergency and loss of biodiversity.

In Parliament, Lynne chaired the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MP's and took part in most of the now lauded rebellions against the New Labour government, including voting against the war in Iraq, tuition fees and the introduction of ID cards.

During her time as an MP, Lynne formed and chaired the Parliamentary Forum on gender identity - standing up for the rights of the trans community long before the vast majority of MP's were even willing to talk about the issue publicly.

Since retiring from the House of Commons in 2010, Lynne moved to Brecon and Radnorshire in Wales, where she refounded her local branch Labour Party and also served a stint as the Chair of her Constituency Labour Party.

She is a member of the 99% organisation, campaigning against mass impoverishment and an article she wrote warning of the dangers of market fundamentalism and the transfer of political power to the wealthy is published on their website here: https://99-percent.org/the-road-to-serfdom-a-wake-up-call/

Lynne has been an active union member all her working life, first joining the ASTMS (Association of scientific, technical and managerial staffs) in 1972 and remaining a member through merges into MSF (Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union) in 1988, Amicus in 2001 AND Unite the Union in 2007.