Cousins was educated at the City of London School, New College, Oxford and the LSE. While at Oxford University, Cousins was a leading member of the university's Liberal Club. During the 1960s, he authored a pamphlet rejecting the "new" Labour of the Harold Wilson era. From 1967 to 1972 he worked in industrial relations and as a research worker in industry. From 1972 to 1982 he was a research worker in Urban Affairs and City Labour Markets. From 1982 to 1987, he was a lecturer at Sunderland Polytechnic.

On the party's rebel left, Cousins briefly served on the party's front bench in a foreign affairs portfolio before being stripped of his position along with fellow frontbencher Ann Clwyd in 1995. The two MPs had been on a fact-finding tour of Kurdistan, at that time being ravaged by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and failed to return in time for a crucial Commons vote. As a key ally of the then Shadow Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, Cousins was still hopeful of a ministerial job when Labour won the election in 1997, but his hopes were dashed and instead he became an influential member of the backbench Treasury Select Committee.

Although Cousins has been described as a member of Labour's so-called awkward squad, his politics and indeed his personality are in reality more complex. He voted against the war in Iraq in 2003 and opposed the introduction of tuition fees in 2004, but on other matters - such as Tony Blair's reforms of the National Health Service, he remained loyal.

The Liberal Democrats made a determined effort to target Cousins' Newcastle Central constituency in the 2005 general election, having taken control of Newcastle City Council the previous year, and Cousins saw his majority reduce from 11,605 to under 4,000. While unsuccessful in defeating Cousins, this result represented one of the largest swings in the country, possibly attributed to Liberal Democrat candidate Greg Stone's student-oriented campaign which focused on issues such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Top-up fees. In June 2009, Cousins announced that he would not be fighting to maintain his seat in the House of Commons at the next general election citing the health of his wife as the reason.

He is married to Anne Elizabeth. They have two sons, and a stepson and step daughter.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Jim Cousins
• The Labour Party - Jim Cousins MP official biography
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Jim Cousins MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Jim Cousins MP
• Jim Cousins Blog - by an opponent
• BBC News - Jim Cousins Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine profile 30 March 2006
• BBC Profile compiled for the 1997 General Election

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• Mugged on 20 October 2002