News / Bristol
Leading the way for Darrens everywhere
Bristol’s newest MP has made history as, apparently, ‘the first ever Darren’ to have been elected into the House of Commons.
Darren Jones said it is humbling, as a working class kid from a council estate in Lawrence Weston, to be representing his friends, family, community and country in parliament.
The MP for Bristol North West sensationally ousted Conservative Charlotte Leslie in the General Election, giving Labour a clean-sweep of all four of the city’s constituencies, and he used his maiden speech on Monday to outline ‘urgent’ priorities on tackling a hard Brexit.
is needed now More than ever
Darren Jones on his first day in the House of Commons
Jones said his is a historic and fascinating constituency – from the earliest evidence of human habitation, to the Roman settlements at Sea Mills – and raised a laugh from the floor as he proclaimed himself the “first ever Darren” to be elected into the house.
He also paid tribute to his predecessor and thanked her for her service to the constituency.
Continuing on a serious note he said: “The successes of my home and its people, from jobs at the port and advanced manufacturing, to research and development, to the professional services, rely on our trading relationship with the European Union.
“That is why my first priority during this Brexit Parliament is to fight for Britain’s membership of the European single market. Because in times of peace our first priority must be prosperity for all.
“That is why the politics of holding on to power for power’s sake, or political positioning to win internal ideological battles, must stop.”
The 30-year-old said he feels a sense of sadness as the world feels more fragile than it has in the past, referencing frustrations of young people, isolation of the elderly and “public services allowed to slowly die by a thousand cuts.”
He added that politics is the only forum through which we can provide hope and pledged to always put his constituents and country first.
Jones finished with the words: “This Brexit parliament will define the future of our country. Let us not self-harm and cause pain, but let us instead unite and act with sense, as well as with patriotism in our hearts, for a national renewal after the dark years of austerity, for the birth of a new British chapter that works for the many, not just the few, and for a new dawn for a new Britain.”
Read more: ‘Bad Brexit deal poses significant risk to Bristol North West’
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