Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Darren Jones – from a childhood in Lawrence Weston to Starmer’s right-hand man
Bristol North West MP Darren Jones is a man whose political rise has been rapid, since he took his seat – then a marginal – from Conservative Charlotte Leslie during the Corbyn surge of 2017.
That’s not to suggest Jones shares the political instincts of the former Labour leader. A more technocratic and centrist figure, he made his name with a series of combative performances in Parliamentary committees before becoming chancellor Rachel Reeves’ number two and then, this September, moving to 10 Downing Street.
There he’s taken on the daunting task of helping the embattled prime minister, Keir Starmer, execute his plans and improve messaging with the public. After a series of policy U-turns, scandals and communications failures, many are currently expressing loud disapproval while Reform UK’s popularity soars.
In the first episode of a new season of Unpacked, Jones reflects on going from a childhood in a Lawrence Weston council flat, via a career as a lawyer, to becoming a cabinet minister.
He also discusses the challenges of government – the trade-offs, the mistakes, and the pressure to communicate clearly in an age of short attention spans. Jones argues that the government must tell its stories much better, and that political communication needs to happen where people actually are. Part of that means going beyond set-piece interviews on the Today programme, and onto podcasts like this one, TikTok, and YouTube, where he is about to start trying to engage with younger constituents.
Amid Labour’s plummeting poll ratings – especially among under-30s, who are turning to the Greens and Corbyn’s Your Party – does this stand a chance of working? Should Starmer fall, would Jones fancy a stab at the top job? And more importantly, where did his Bristol accent go?
Tune into the new series of Unpacked to find out…
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