Who is Mr. Joseph Jones, Mayor of Barnsley, Yorkshire from The Road to Wigan Pier and what is their importance?

Mr. Jones is presented as an expert on the wages typically paid out to miners in Barnsley, which is presumed to be typical of northern colliery wages. Jones states that the official average wages paid to miners includes the highest-paid men's salaries and rolls in overtime rates—while ignoring periods where miners do not work. Thus, the average miner's income appears to be fairly robust, when in fact the figures do not portray the large portion of miners who are out of work or receive less or intermittent pay. Orwell's personal calculations dovetail nicely with Jones' statements. Jones is offered as an expert in the text, and no biographical data are provided for him—except that he is the Mayor of Barnsley and apparently somewhat sympathetic to the local coal miners' plight. Much of the book's financial analyses come to rest on Jones' authority and accuracy.