Denise Idris Jones (7 December 1950 – 24 July 2020; née Woodrow) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

politician and teacher. She was Labour member of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

for the Conwy Assembly constituency between 2003 and 2007.

Personal Life & Teaching Career

As a student in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, she worked for

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

’s campaign. She taught English and French at Grango Secondary Modern School,

Rhosllanerchrugog RhosllanerchrugogDavies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales'', 2008, p.752 (; standardised and also spelled as Rhosllannerchrugog, or simply Rhos) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It ...

, for around 30 years. Jones spoke

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. She lived in

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; ) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh ''rhud ...

, where she died on 24 July 2020.

Political career

Jones contested the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy constituency in the

1999 National Assembly for Wales election The 1999 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 6 May 1999 to elect 60 members to the Senedd, at the time called the National Assembly for Wales (Welsh Parliament; ). It was the first devolved general election held in Wales af ...

. She lost to

Dafydd Elis-Thomas Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, (; 18 October 1946 – 7 February 2025) was a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1984 to 1991 and represented the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the Senedd from 199 ...

. At the 2003 Assembly elections she contested the

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...

assembly constituency, and beat

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

incumbent Gareth Jones by just 72 votes. In 2003, shortly after Jones was elected, during a normal day's proceedings she left the assembly chamber to post a letter. While she was gone, the then

Welsh government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

lost a motion on its business schedule, after the vote deadlocked 29-29 and the tie was broken in the negative by then Presiding Officer

. This was due to Assembly standing orders required the Presiding Office to vote in the negative when no further discussion was possible. Jones apologised for the error, stating "I am sorry that I missed the vote because I have found as a new member that I haven't been made aware of certain things. I took a letter up to the office and there was no division bell which I expected and when I got back I had missed the vote. I'll never do that again." She served on the Culture, Welsh Language & Sport Committee; the Education & Lifelong Learning Committee; the Audit Committee and the North Wales Regional Committee. For the 2007 Assembly elections, the

constituency she had served as member for was split across the new Aberconwy and Arfon constituencies. She contested the Aberconwy constituency, and came third in this election, losing to previous opponent Gareth Jones.

References

Female members of the Senedd Wales AMs 2003–2007 Welsh Labour politicians 1950 births 2020 deaths Welsh schoolteachers 21st-century British women politicians {{Wales-AM-stub