Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Lord Jones of Cheltenham dies, aged 74
AFORMER West MP who survived a sword attack by a mentally-ill constituent and later went on to serve in the House of Lords has died at the age of 74.
Tributes were yesterday paid to Lord Jones of Cheltenham, who represented the Gloucestershire town as a Liberal Democrat MP from 1992-2005.
His great friend and fellow former West MP Don Foster told the BBC that he was a really hard-working constituency MP.
Baron Foster, the former Bath MP, said: “I know he was very well loved.”
Joe Harris, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cotswold District Council, said on Twitter: “Very sorry to hear that Lord Nigel Jones has passed away. A wonderful MP for Cheltenham, his loss will be felt hard by the community in Cheltenham and the Lib Dems.”
The tragic incident in January 2000 when Robert Ashman entered Jones’ constituency office in St George’s Road, Cheltenham, with a 3ft samurai sword was one of the darkest days in West political history.
Lord Jones himself was badly injured in the attack, needing 57 stitches, but his aide Andrew Pennington was killed as he tried to intervene and pull Ashman away from the MP.
During his trial at Bristol Crown Court in 2003, Ashman was judged to be suffering from paranoid psychosis and unfit to stand trial for murder.
Speaking in the wake of the murder of Southend MP Sir David Amess last year by a constituent during a surgery, Lord Jones recalled the death of Mr Pennington as he told the Lords of the importance of politicians meeting constituents, despite the risks.
He said: “David, like my friend Andy Pennington and I, was just trying to do the job to the best of his ability.
“Our democracy relies on an open channel between those in power and the people who we represent. It’s vital to be able to meet people face to face so they can feel we are here and working for them.”
He stood down as an MP in 2005 and was elevated to the Lords the same year.
He is survived by his wife Katy, son Sam and twin daughters Lucy and Amy.
He died on Monday during heart surgery.