New Shadow Minister for Policing and the Fire Service appointed

Ms Jones, who has been Shadow Minister for Housing since May 2018, set up and chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Knife Crime in 2017.

Responding to her appointment, she tweeted yesterday (April 9): “I will work with the Government to do everything I can to make sure the police and fire services have the support they need to help us through this crisis. They are the best of us.

“Tackling knife crime has been a huge priority for me, as has the need for fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire, and it’s great to keep working on these crucial issues.”

The APPG on Knife Crime and Violence Reduction is a group of more than 70 MPs and Peers, set up in response to the alarming rise in knife crime across the country. The group aims to develop cross-party consensus from parliamentarians around new approaches to tackling knife crime, with particular focus on prevention and early intervention.

This includes evaluating policies and programmes aimed at reducing knife crime, gaining better understanding of its root causes and the wider context of serious violence, and working with the cross-party Youth Violence Commission.

Ms Jones was elected as the Labour MP for Croydon Central in June 2017. After spending her first summer as an MP talking to local organisations, campaigners and young people about the surge in youth violence and knife crime, she held a debate in Parliament on the topic, and set up the APPG on Knife Crime shortly after.

Prior to becoming an MP, Ms Jones held several senior campaigning roles, including within the NHS, London 2012 Olympics and as head of campaigns at Shelter.