Jones first represented the seat of Ashgrove until she was defeated by eventual Premier Campbell Newman at the 2012 state election.
[1] In 1995 she was the Premier of the first ever YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament, a non-partisan political program for young people.
After retaining her seat in the 2009 election, she was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability in the new Bligh cabinet, replacing Andrew McNamara.
[9] At that election, Jones was defeated, suffering a 13 percent swing as part of the LNP's massive victory.
Jones announced her retirement on 10 September 2020, the last sitting day before the 2020 Queensland state election in October.