[1][2] Born in Gorseinon, Wales,[3] the son of Bernard Garel-Jones and Meriel (née Williams),[4][5] he and his family moved first to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands prior to settling in Madrid, Spain, when he was seven years old.

Viewed as an effective whip who successfully delivered parliamentary votes in favour of Thatcher's legislation, Garel-Jones was nonetheless seen as a mixture of Machiavelli and Ivan the Terrible by the Thatcherite right-wing.

[7] Although his loyalty to Thatcher was never questioned, nor his ability to stamp out a rebellion, his party's "dry" (right wing) flank associated him with the Conservative "wets" (centrist) faction.

[8] Others who knew him said "where Dobbs’ character was a cold, machiavellian schemer, Garel-Jones was in reality a warm and enthusiastic person who cared deeply about human rights, equality, and the advancement of humanist ideals.

[12] In 1966, Garel-Jones married Catalina Garrigues Carnicer, niece of the Spanish bullfighting critic Antonio Díaz-Cañabate [es].