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Defiant Fiona will fight to clear name 

A defiant Fiona Jones made it clear this week that she would fight on to clear her name - and said the case could even end up in the European Court of Human Rights. 

But she will first seek leave to appeal against her conviction on April 12 at the Court of Appeal before the Lord Chief Justice in London. The court will also deal with Des Whicher's case.

Mrs Jones said the costs of the action would be met by the Labour Party because it considered it was such a complex constitutional issue. Labour also picked up the bill for the four-week trial.

Mrs Jones immediately lost her seat when she was convicted of election fraud on Friday. She said there was no mechanism for her to remain in the Commons until the appeal was heard and even if she won it she would not be automatically reinstated.

She said it was a unique situation. In all other cases if a conviction was quashed the defendant went back to square one.

"If the appeal is won I honestly don't know what will happen next," said Mrs Jones. "It has never happened before.

"I could consider standing for Parliament but I won't be put back in the same situation. It is a major constitutional issue."

She said the House of Commons was extremely concerned about the situation and said her legal team could look at taking the whole case to the European Court.

Mrs Jones said she still maintained that she had not knowingly falsified her return. She had felt the judge's summing up had seemed to be very sympathetic and so she was obviously disappointed at the guilty verdict.

She said she had been surprised by it and felt most people in the court had been surprised, too.

Mrs Jones said she felt election law was very difficult for lay people to understand and it was in desperate need of reform. The election return was so out of date it still spoke of telegrams but there was no mention of telephones or the use of cars.

She said she felt particularly sorry for Des Whicher. He had carried out unpaid work as her agent and had been subjected to a very difficult situation.

The trial had been especially difficult on her eldest son Penri. He had read the newspaper stories about the case and although she had explained the situation to him it had been hard at times.

Mrs Jones said her office on Castlegate would remain open as long as possible to deal with on-going cases. She said she would meet personally the cost of the office and staff.

ABOVE: A triumphant Fiona Jones and Des Whicher on election night.

 

Guilty verdict a huge blow

The guilty verdict came as a huge blow to Des Whicher, who said he had been devastated.

He said he had been taken totally by surprise and could not believe what he had heard.

Mr Whicher's aim now is to clear his name but he said that as his appeal would not be heard before the final day for town and district council nominations - set for April 8 - he would not be able to stand for re-election to either authority.

"It had been my intention to stand one more time," he said. "I will be 74 in the summer so would have been almost 78 by the end of the term. I just feel sad that I have had to call it a day in this manner."

He said he had taken comfort from many telephone calls of support which he has had - some from people he had not spoken to for years.

Said Mr Whicher: "I am happy to hold my head up high in the town. Nobody who really knows me would accept what has happened."

He has also had the full support of his family and his wife, Mrs Joan Whicher. He said he had been particularly sorry for her because her year as mayor, which started just before the General Election, had been spoiled by the allegations and the action which followed.

He said if his conviction was quashed by the appeal on April 12 he would like to return to the many charities and organisations with which he has been involved. Whether he would return to council work would be another matter.

He would particularly like to return to the Ramblers' Association. He has been involved with the organisation both regionally and nationally for years.

He was also chairman of Newark Mind, a member of the Citizens' Advice Bureau and Council for Voluntary Service, a former chairman of Newark Homestart, a governor at Barnby Road Junior School and a member of the management committee of Hawtonville Community Association.

"I genuinely took to Newark when I came here. I loved the town and for the first time ever I put down deep roots.

"I feel that in a small way by being on the town and district council you can actually help and I found it very satisfying."

He said he had taken on the job as Fiona Jones' agent because it was a job which needed to be done.

"Mr Barton gave up half way through. Somebody had to take it on and I had the contacts. I worked tremendously hard and enjoyed doing it."

He said he did not regret taking on the job because he had done nothing wrong.

"I did my honest best in an area of law which is very uncertain. Whatever happens I shall go on."

 

Time for politics

Des Whicher took early retirement from his job as an economics lecturer at Newark Technical College in 1981 which gave him time to become involved in local politics.

He was elected to Newark and Sherwood District Council in a by-election for the Magnus ward in 1982 but lost the seat the following year. Two years later he won a place on Newark Town Council and in 1987 was elected back to the district council representing the Devon Ward.

He was district council chairman in 1991 and Mayor of Newark in 1994-5. He is also a former chairman of the district council planning committee.

He has been a member of the Labour Party for 30 years and became a member of Newark Constituency Labour Party when he moved to the town in 1971. He was its secretary for a year and has also served as chairman of Newark Town Labour Party.

Mr Whicher was very active in the trades union movement and was a member of the National Union of Teachers and then a member of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education. He served as East Midlands secretary and represented the union on Nottinghamshire's education committee.

He was made an honorary life member of the union when he retired.

He lives in George Street, Newark, with his second wife, Joan, who is a care assistant. He has two daughters, Mrs Ellen Hill and Mrs Carol Bailey, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

 

Short, silent stay in office

Newark MP Mrs Fiona Jones' departure from the House of Commons after a brief stay of some 22 months could be considered as unexpected as her arrival.

She came to Newark as Labour prospective Parliamentary candidate in September 1995.

Her task was to unseat Mr Richard Alexander, the town's sitting Conservative MP since 1979.

Mr Alexander was defending an 8,229 majority and the seat was not considered high on Labour's potential victory list.

But Mrs Jones pulled it off with the help of a huge national swing to finish ahead by 3,016 votes.

But on Friday she left Nottingham Crown Court having forfeited her seat.

Mrs Jones (42) who describes herself as a journalist with multi-media experience was born in Liverpool on February 27, 1957 and was convent educated in the city.

She worked as a freelance journalist in Liverpool where she met her husband-to-be, Chris from North Wales, who was working as a BBC radio journalist in Liverpool. They married in 1982.

They moved to Lincolnshire where Chris now works as a BBC Radio Lincolnshire presenter.

They have two sons Penri (9) and Huw (6) and live in Saxilby.

She has been a Labour Party member for more than 20 years Mrs Jones was elected on to West Lindsay District Council in 1990 and was an economic development spokesman.

Mrs Jones is former branch secretary of the Gainsborough and Horncastle Constituency Labour Party and she stood for Parliamentary election in the seat in 1992.

She polled 11,619 votes to finish in third place in a seat where the Conservatives increased their winning majority.

Mrs Jones decided to try again and went for selection at Lincoln where she was beaten by Gillian Merron who went on to become MP.

She then turned her attention on Newark and was selected from a short-list of five.

Following her election Mrs Jones became a member of the Parliamentary Agricultural Select Committee.

She attracted national attention in January last year as the last of the 242 new MPs to make her maiden speech. A Sunday Times survey at the start of the year recorded that Mrs Jones had spoken just four times in Parliament placing her among the bottom dozen of least active speakers.

Mrs Jones merits a three-line mention in the current edition Who's Who.

It records her name, date of birth, being married with two children and where she was educated.

A Parliamentary guide to the new House of Commons of 1997 adds little more but listed her special interests as employment, health and crime.

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