He was elected to Melbourne City Council in 1862 and remained until October 1865, his activism against Premier John O'Shanassy's "Irish ministry" led him to be associated with the protectionists despite his earlier free trade leanings.
In 1864, having been persuaded by the Orange Order to stand for the Victorian Parliament, he was elected to the seat of Ballarat East as a supporter of James McCulloch, and was appointed government whip.
Appointed literary editor of the Ballarat Evening Post in 1867, he had defected to the Opposition in October 1866 after being disappointed in his hopes for a ministry; he later returned to McCulloch but lost his seat at the 1868 election.
During the Darling grant crisis he was re-elected to the parliament, defeating the lands minister William Vale in a ministerial by-election for Ballarat West and joining the opposition to Charles Sladen's government.
[1] Jones' marriage fell apart in 1872 and after an unsuccessful court case in which he tried to marry Rebecca Einley he travelled to America, where he worked as a journalist and lecturer, living in Utah and Wisconsin.