William Jones (Liberal politician)

William Jones (1859 – 9 May 1915) was a British Liberal Party politician.

Early history

Jones was born in 1859 the son of W. Jones, a peasant farmer. He was educated first at the British school at Llangefni, later becoming the pupil-teacher there. He continued his education at Bangor Normal College, the University College of Wales, Aberystwith and finally at Oxford University.^[1] He became a country schoolmaster, then an Assistant Master at Anglesey, Cardiganshire and then under the London School Board, and afterwards he worked as a private tutor at Oxford.^[2]

Political career

Jones entered the House of Commons as Liberal MP for Arfon in the 1895 general election;

General Election 1895: Arfon ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Jones	4,488	61.1	n/a
	Conservative	Prof. A W Hughes	2,860	38.9	n/a
Majority			1,628	22.2	n/a
Turnout				83.3	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

He was re-elected unopposed in 1900 and in 1906;

General Election 1906: Arfon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Jones	5,945	70.1	n/a
	Conservative	Arthur E Hughes	2,533	29.9	n/a
Majority			3,412	40.2	n/a
Turnout				85.2	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

In parliament he supported the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill.^[5] He was re-elected at the January 1910;

General Election January 1910: Arfon ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Jones	6,223	70.3
	Conservative	Arthur E Hughes	2,629	29.7
Majority			3,594	40.6
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

He was elected unopposed at the December 1910 election. In 1911 was appointed to the Liberal administration of H. H. Asquith as a government whip. He died in office in May 1915.

References

1. Liberal Year Book 1907
2. Debrett's House of Commons 1901
3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
4. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)
5. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1908/feb/28/womens-enfranchisement-bill-1
6. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Jones