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Nigel David Jones, Baron Jones of Cheltenham (b. 30 March 1948 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire ) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom.

Early life

He went to Prince Henry's Grammar School (now the comprehensive Prince Henry's High School) on Victoria Avenue in Evesham. He was a computer operator for Westminster Bank from 1965-7, and a computer programmer at International Computers Limited (ICL) from 1967-70. He worked as a systems analyst at Vehicle and General Insurance from 1970-1, a systems programmer at Atkins Computing in 1971, and then rejoined ICL as a project manager from 1971-92.

Parliamentary career

Jones was a Gloucestershire County Councillor from 1989 until being elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheltenham in 1992, having previously contested the seat at the 1979 general election), winning the seat from the Conservative Party. He held the seat until standing down at the 2005 general election.

Attacked

On 28 January 2000, Robert Ashman attacked Jones and his assistant, local councillor Andrew Pennington with a Katana (Samurai sword). Pennington was killed, and Jones was severely injured. Jones had written a character reference for Ashman when Ashman was nearly jailed after breaking the ribs of a tax collector in 1992. He was charged with manslaughter and attempted murder, but the jury at his trial found him to be mentally unfit to stand trial. Subsequently detained in Broadmoor hospital for observation, the Home Office authorised a further trial in September 2002. Ashman was subsequently found guilty of attempted murder and admitted to Pennington's manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in 2003. Pennington was posthumously awarded the George Medal for his attempts to protect Jones.

Peerage

On 13 May 2005 it was announced that Nigel Jones would be created a life peer, and he was subsequently elevated to the peerage on 20 June 2005 as Baron Jones of Cheltenham, of Cheltenham in the County of Gloucestershire. As well as many outside interests he acts as a non-executive consultant for Barlow Frith Communications, a Buckinghamshire-based Public Relations consultancy.

Personal life

He married Katherine Grinnell in 1981. They have a son (Sam) and twin daughters (Amy and Lucy).

References

1. GRO Register of Births: JUN 1948 7b 482 CHELTENHAM - Nigel D. Jones, mmn = Hughes
2. ^ "Ashman: Family Man turned Killer". BBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
3. "Sword man sent to secure hospital". BBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
4. "MP's sword attacker guilty". BBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
5. "Medal for man who died saving MP". BBC News. Retrieved 22 January 2012.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Nigel Jones
• Lord Jones of Cheltenham profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
• Cheltenham Liberal Democrats
• Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - Nigel Jones
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Nigel Jones
• The Public Whip - Nigel Jones voting record
• BBC News - Nigel Jones profile 10 February 2005
• PR consultancy.

Template:Persondata

• 1948 births
• Living people
• Liberal Democrat (UK) MPs
• Members of the United Kingdom Parliament for English constituencies
• Liberal Democrat life peers
• Councillors in Gloucestershire
• People from Cheltenham
• People from Evesham
• UK MPs 1992–1997
• UK MPs 1997–2001
• UK MPs 2001–2005
• English computer programmers