Owen Jones

Journalist, newspaper columnist, political commentator and author

British Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England Leo

Quick Info

ProfessionJournalist, newspaper columnist, political commentator and author
NationalityBritish
Date of Birth08/08/1984
Age42 years
BirthplaceSheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Zodiac SignLeo

Latest News about Owen Jones

12/03/2026

The High Court ruled in favour of Owen Jones in a libel case brought by BBC Middle East editor Raffi Berg over a Drop Site News article criticising BBC coverage of Israel and Palestine. The judge found the article expressed an opinion and gave examples of Berg's journalism as its basis. Jones said he stood by his journalism and was prepared to defend the article in court if the case proceeded.

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Bio/Wiki

SummaryOwen Peter Jones is a left-wing British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author and activist who writes for The Guardian and contributes to the New Statesman, Tribune and The National.
Early LifeBorn in Sheffield in 1984 and grew up in Stockport.

Educational Qualification(s)

University College, Oxford
  • BA (history)
  • MSt

Personal Life

Political AffiliationMember of the Labour Party from 1999 to 2024
HealthHas spoken publicly about being diagnosed with ADHD

Relationships & More

Notable Public DisputesIn 2019, broadcaster Andrew Neil publicly accused him on live television of spreading lies and smears about him.
Legal MattersIn November 2025, BBC Middle East editor Raffi Berg sued him for libel over a December 2024 Drop Site News article; in March 2026 the High Court ruled in Jones's favour on key issues, finding the article expressed an opinion supported by examples.

Family

MotherRuth Aylett, a computer-science academic
FatherA trade-union shop steward
Other RelativesLabour councillors and radical preachers, according to published profiles
Political BackgroundParents were members of the Militant Tendency and met while canvassing for Labour in the late 1960s

Career

Early CareerWorked as a trade-union lobbyist, archived the papers of historian Eric Hobsbawm, and served as a parliamentary researcher to John McDonnell
ColumnistRegular columnist for The Guardian since March 2014, after earlier writing for The Independent
Other Contributions
  • New Statesman
  • Tribune
  • The National
Broadcasting and Digital
  • The Owen Jones Show (weekly web series)
  • The Owen Jones Podcast (weekly web series)
  • BattleLines with Owen Jones (Substack newsletter)
Books
  • Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class (2011)
  • This Land: The Struggle for the Left (2020)
Screen Credits
  • Totally Shameless: How TV Portrays the Working Class - The Huw Wheldon Memorial Lecture (2013)
  • One Rogue Reporter (2014)
Media AppearancesRegular commentator on Question Time and Newsnight
Awards
Stonewall Journalist of the Year2012 (shared with Hugo Rifkind)
Political Book AwardYoung Writer of the Year, 2013
Honorary DoctorateStaffordshire University, 2015

Social Media

Twitterhttps://x.com/owenjonesjourno

Some Lesser Known Facts

1. He worked for a time as a trade-union lobbyist before becoming a parliamentary researcher.
2. He has said he was not raised to be politically indoctrinated despite his socialist family.
3. He has publicly discussed his ADHD diagnosis.
4. He split his 2013 Political Book Award prize money, donating half to Disabled People Against Cuts and half to a Labour parliamentary candidate.

Also born on 8 August

Information on this page is collected from public sources and may not be 100% accurate. Report an error
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