Who is Labour's Darren Jones? Jazz saxophonist and now second in command at the Treasury
Jones is seen as a rising star within the party's ranks - and will have a big job on his hands entering Number 11 as the second most senior minister in the Treasury, behind chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
Friday 5 July 2024 18:48, UK
Darren Jones has been appointed as the chief secretary to the Treasury - making him one of the most senior politicians in charge of the public purse.
But what is his story, and how did he get to the top of the Labour Party, and the second most senior ministerial office in HM Treasury?
Born in Bristol in 1986, Jones grew up on a council estate and went to a local state school in the Shirehampton area of the city.
He went on to study human bioscience at the University of Plymouth and soon began flexing his political muscles, being elected the president of the Student's Union.
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While his first jobs were in the NHS and writing a weekly column for the Plymouth Herald, he decided to head back to education to study law, first at the University of West England and then at the University of Law in Bristol.
A fully signed up member of the Labour Party, he stood in his first election in 2010, in the safe Tory seat of Torridge and West Devon.
And it wasn't a pretty result for him, coming fourth behind not just the incumbent Conservative Geoffrey Cox, but the Liberal Democrat candidate and the UKIP candidate, with just 5.3% of the vote.
But it didn't stop him from being politically active, joining the national youth committees of both the Co-operative Party and Unite the Union, eventually being elected to the union's regional committee in the South West.
Jones continued his legal career, becoming a solicitor and specialising in technology law.
He trained at Bond Dickson LLP - again on his home turf of Bristol - and worked up the ranks over four years, before taking another shot at parliament.
This time, things were closer. He ran against the incumbent Tory in Bristol North West, Charlotte Leslie, and while he still lost, he came second with over 34% of the vote - and just 5,000 votes behind the winner.
Come 2016, he changed jobs and moved to become an in-house legal counsel at BT.
But in the 2017 election, running in his home city again - and against the same Tory candidate - victory was his, taking over 50% of the vote share and winning with a majority of 4,761.
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The staunch Remainer entered parliament - the first ever "Darren" to do so, according to his maiden speech - amid the Brexit rows, but wasn't afraid to put his views forward.
In fact, despite winning his seat under left wing leader Jeremy Corbyn, he told a radio programme his political hero was Tony Blair.
But he isn't all work, no play. Jones told his local paper he is a keen cook - and as a vegan he considers himself "creative" in the kitchen - and that he also plays the saxophone.
He is also married to a fellow tech enthusiast and entrepreneur Lucy Symons-Jones, who co-founded renewable energy firm Village Infrastructure, and the pair have three children.
Back to work, and Jones quickly began his Commons committee career, joining both the Science and Technology Committee, and the European Scrutiny Committee, within months of taking his seat on the green benches.
And it was in the committee corridor where he rose to prominence after being re-elected in 2019 with an increased majority - though slightly smaller vote share.
In May 2021, Rachel Reeves was plucked by Sir Keir Starmer from being chair of the Business Select Committee to become his shadow chancellor, meaning a replacement was needed.
Jones was voted in as her successor soon after, and his high profile challenging of both business leaders and ministers caught the eye of senior figures within Labour.
Perhaps his most memorable appearance was during the questioning of Boris Johnson at the Liaison Committee - made up of committee chairs - in his last days in office, during which he told the now ex-prime minister his cabinet were waiting in Number 10 to tell him to resign.
Come Sir Keir's shadow cabinet reshuffle in September 2023, few were surprised when Jones was brought onto the front bench and made shadow chief secretary to the Treasury under his former business committee colleague Reeves.
He became one of the most recognisable faces of the shadow cabinet, often sent out on media rounds to get across the party's message.