Lynne Jones
Encyclopedia
Lynne Mary Jones is a British
Labour Party
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Birmingham Selly Oak from 1992
until the dissolution of parliament in April 2010.
, Lynne Jones went to the local Bartley Green
Girls' Grammar School (now the comprehensive Hillcrest School) on Stonehouse Lane in Woodgate near Woodgate Valley Country Park
, off the B4121. She studied Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham
, eventually earning her Ph.D.
in 1979. She also has a post-graduate Diploma in Housing Studies from Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University
). She worked in research at the University of Birmingham from 1972-86. She was a housing association manager from 1987-92. She joined the Labour Party in 1974.
She has worked in both science and housing, and was a Councillor on Birmingham City Council
representing Kings Norton
ward from 1980-94.
and at alpha adrenergic receptor
s. This led to a discovery that there are cell-surface receptors
that are stimulated by hormones and neurotransmitter
s controlled by changes of intracellular
calcium ion levels
. It also involves the conversion of inositol phospholipid
s in the cell membrane
. She also worked on the process of agonist-stimulated incorporation of radioactive phosphate
into inositol phospholipid
s.
.
She was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group
and took part in almost all of the backbench rebellions against the Labour government. She wa also 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.
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
did so instead, but failed to gain enough nominations from MPs and Brown was unopposed.
who came second in the constituency.
. She married Chris Kirk in April 1994 in Lambeth
. He is Chief Executive of the Biochemical Society
. She is a keen cyclist.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Birmingham Selly Oak from 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
until the dissolution of parliament in April 2010.
Early life
Born in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Lynne Jones went to the local Bartley Green
Bartley Green
Bartley Green is a residential suburban area and electoral ward to the south west of Birmingham city centre, England. The ward is part of the Edgbaston constituency which has been under Labour rule for almost ten years. It is located in the metropolitan county of the West Midlands and was in the...
Girls' Grammar School (now the comprehensive Hillcrest School) on Stonehouse Lane in Woodgate near Woodgate Valley Country Park
Woodgate Valley Country Park
Woodgate Valley Country Park is a Country Park within the Bartley Green and Quinton districts of Birmingham. Other Birmingham Country Parks are, Sutton Park and Lickey Hills Country Park. The park is maintained as a Wildlife habitat but also has farm animals....
, off the B4121. She studied Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, eventually earning her Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1979. She also has a post-graduate Diploma in Housing Studies from Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University is a British university in the city of Birmingham, England. It is the second largest of three universities in the city, the other two being the Aston University and University of Birmingham...
). She worked in research at the University of Birmingham from 1972-86. She was a housing association manager from 1987-92. She joined the Labour Party in 1974.
She has worked in both science and housing, and was a Councillor on Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
representing Kings Norton
Kings Norton
Kings Norton is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a Birmingham City Council ward within the formal district of Northfield.-History:...
ward from 1980-94.
Research interests
She first studied stimulus-response coupling in the rat parotid glandParotid gland
The paired parotid glands are the largest of the salivary glands. They are each found wrapped around the mandibular ramus, and secrete saliva through Stensen's ducts into the oral cavity, to facilitate mastication and swallowing and to begin the digestion of starches.-Location:The parotid glands...
and at alpha adrenergic receptor
Adrenergic receptor
The adrenergic receptors are a class of metabotropic G protein-coupled receptors that are targets of the catecholamines, especially noradrenaline and adrenaline ....
s. This led to a discovery that there are cell-surface receptors
Receptor (biochemistry)
In biochemistry, a receptor is a molecule found on the surface of a cell, which receives specific chemical signals from neighbouring cells or the wider environment within an organism...
that are stimulated by hormones and neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitter
Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. Neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles clustered beneath the membrane on the presynaptic side of a synapse, and are released into the synaptic cleft, where they bind to...
s controlled by changes of intracellular
Signal transduction
Signal transduction occurs when an extracellular signaling molecule activates a cell surface receptor. In turn, this receptor alters intracellular molecules creating a response...
calcium ion levels
Calcium in biology
Calcium plays a pivotal role in the physiology and biochemistry of organisms and the cell. It plays an important role in signal transduction pathways, where it acts as a second messenger, in neurotransmitter release from neurons, contraction of all muscle cell types, and fertilization...
. It also involves the conversion of inositol phospholipid
Lipid signaling
Lipid signaling, broadly defined, refers to any biological signaling event involving a lipid messenger that binds a protein target, such as a receptor, kinase or phosphatase, which in turn mediate the effects of these lipids on specific cellular responses...
s in the cell membrane
Cell membrane
The cell membrane or plasma membrane is a biological membrane that separates the interior of all cells from the outside environment. The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions and organic molecules and controls the movement of substances in and out of cells. It basically protects the cell...
. She also worked on the process of agonist-stimulated incorporation of radioactive phosphate
Filter binding assay
In biochemistry or chemistry, one of the ways to learn about an interaction between two molecules is to determine the binding constant, which is a number that describes the ratio of unbound and bound molecules...
into inositol phospholipid
Phospholipid
Phospholipids are a class of lipids that are a major component of all cell membranes as they can form lipid bilayers. Most phospholipids contain a diglyceride, a phosphate group, and a simple organic molecule such as choline; one exception to this rule is sphingomyelin, which is derived from...
s.
Parliamentary career
She was elected to the House of Commons at the 1992 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
.
She was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group
Socialist Campaign Group
The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing democratic socialist grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was formed in December 1982 as an alternative Parliamentary left-wing group to the Tribune Group...
and took part in almost all of the backbench rebellions against the Labour government. She wa also Chair of the Parliamentary Forum on Transsexualism
Transsexualism
Transsexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender...
, and is a patron of Press for Change.
From 1993-2001 she was on the Science and Technology Select Committee
Science and Technology Select Committee
The Science and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The original Science and Technology was abolished upon the creation of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee on November 6, 2007...
. During the 2005-10 parliament she was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.
Leadership challenge
In February 2006 she announced her intention to stand against Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
in the Labour Party leadership contest expected to follow Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's resignation if nobody else did, so that Brown could not simply be "crowned". Subsequently, Socialist Campaign Group Chair John McDonnell
John McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
did so instead, but failed to gain enough nominations from MPs and Brown was unopposed.
Retirement
Following boundary alterations in Birmingham, which reduce its parliamentary representation from eleven to ten seats, Jones was expected to apply for selection to the redrawn Selly Oak constituency which contains wards from both the current Selly Oak and Hall Green constituencies. However, in January 2007 Jones announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 general election. Jones supported the Respect candidate Salma YaqoobSalma Yaqoob
Salma Yaqoob is the leader, and former vice-chair, of the Respect Party and a former Birmingham City Councillor. She is also the head of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque....
who came second in the constituency.
Personal life
She is married, and has two sons (including one born in January 1990). In November 2009, she announced she is having treatment for cancer. Her husband has been treated for prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. She married Chris Kirk in April 1994 in Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
. He is Chief Executive of the Biochemical Society
Biochemical Society
The Biochemical Society is a learned society in the United Kingdom in the field of biochemistry, including all the cellular and molecular biosciences.-Structure:...
. She is a keen cyclist.
External links
- Lynne Jones MP official site
- ePolitix - Lynne Jones MP
- Open Rights Group - Lynne Jones MP
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Lynne Jones MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Lynne Jones MP
- The Public Whip - Lynne Jones MP voting record
- BBC News - Lynne Jones BBC profile