Hywel Rhodri Morgan (born 29 September 1939) is a
Welsh Labour politicianWelsh Labour is part of the United Kingdom Labour Party which operates in Wales. Labour is the largest and most successful political party in modern Welsh politics, having won the largest share of the vote at every UK General Election and Welsh Assembly election since 1922, and each European...
, who has been the
Assembly MemberThe National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
for
Cardiff WestCardiff West or West Cardiff refers to the collection of communities in the west of Cardiff, Wales. Also the usage is unofficial and boundaries are only ambiguously defined, they generally share the postcodes CF5 or CF15, and the telephone code 029...
since 1999 and is the current
First Minister for WalesThe First Minister is the leader of the Welsh Assembly Government, Wales' devolved administration, which was established in 1999. When initially set up under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the title was known as First Secretary , as Wales was given a less powerful assembly and executive than...
.
Born in
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
, Rhodri Morgan is the son of Professor
T. J. MorganThomas John Morgan , better known as T. J. Morgan, was a Welsh academic.He was born in the village of Glais, near Swansea, and studied at the University of Wales, Swansea, where he later became Professor of Welsh, a post he held from 1951 to 1961. In 1926, he met his future wife at the National...
and the brother of the historian,
Prys MorganPrys Morgan is a Welsh historian.He was born in Cardiff, the son of academic T. J. Morgan. Like his brother, Rhodri Morgan, Prys Morgan studied at St John's College, Oxford, then joined the teaching staff of the University of Wales, Swansea, where his father had been a professor...
.
Rhodri Morgan was educated at Whitchurch Grammar School (merged with Whitchurch County Secondary School to become the comprehensive
Whitchurch High SchoolWhitchurch High School is a large, co-educational, comprehensive secondary school in the suburb of Whitchurch in Cardiff, Wales. It is run and maintained by Cardiff LEA, however the school has applied to the Welsh Assembly Government for foundation status....
in 1972) in
WhitchurchWhitchurch is a suburb in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is approximately 3 miles north of the centre of the city on the A470 road and A4054 road. Its estimated population as of 2004 was 15,649...
, Cardiff;
St John's College, Oxford__FORCETOC__St John's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel...
studying PPE; and
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
, where he gained an
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
.
In 1967, he married
Julie EdwardsJulie Morgan MP is a Labour politician in Wales. She is the Member of Parliament for Cardiff North, first elected at the 1997 election and returned in 2001 and 2005. She is married to the First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan....
, now Labour MP for
Cardiff NorthCardiff North is aborough constituency in the city of Cardiff. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
.
Hywel Rhodri Morgan (born 29 September 1939) is a
Welsh Labour politicianWelsh Labour is part of the United Kingdom Labour Party which operates in Wales. Labour is the largest and most successful political party in modern Welsh politics, having won the largest share of the vote at every UK General Election and Welsh Assembly election since 1922, and each European...
, who has been the
Assembly MemberThe National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
for
Cardiff WestCardiff West or West Cardiff refers to the collection of communities in the west of Cardiff, Wales. Also the usage is unofficial and boundaries are only ambiguously defined, they generally share the postcodes CF5 or CF15, and the telephone code 029...
since 1999 and is the current
First Minister for WalesThe First Minister is the leader of the Welsh Assembly Government, Wales' devolved administration, which was established in 1999. When initially set up under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the title was known as First Secretary , as Wales was given a less powerful assembly and executive than...
.
Private life
Born in
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
, Rhodri Morgan is the son of Professor
T. J. MorganThomas John Morgan , better known as T. J. Morgan, was a Welsh academic.He was born in the village of Glais, near Swansea, and studied at the University of Wales, Swansea, where he later became Professor of Welsh, a post he held from 1951 to 1961. In 1926, he met his future wife at the National...
and the brother of the historian,
Prys MorganPrys Morgan is a Welsh historian.He was born in Cardiff, the son of academic T. J. Morgan. Like his brother, Rhodri Morgan, Prys Morgan studied at St John's College, Oxford, then joined the teaching staff of the University of Wales, Swansea, where his father had been a professor...
.
Rhodri Morgan was educated at Whitchurch Grammar School (merged with Whitchurch County Secondary School to become the comprehensive
Whitchurch High SchoolWhitchurch High School is a large, co-educational, comprehensive secondary school in the suburb of Whitchurch in Cardiff, Wales. It is run and maintained by Cardiff LEA, however the school has applied to the Welsh Assembly Government for foundation status....
in 1972) in
WhitchurchWhitchurch is a suburb in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is approximately 3 miles north of the centre of the city on the A470 road and A4054 road. Its estimated population as of 2004 was 15,649...
, Cardiff;
St John's College, Oxford__FORCETOC__St John's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel...
studying PPE; and
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
, where he gained an
MAA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
.
In 1967, he married
Julie EdwardsJulie Morgan MP is a Labour politician in Wales. She is the Member of Parliament for Cardiff North, first elected at the 1997 election and returned in 2001 and 2005. She is married to the First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan....
, now Labour MP for
Cardiff NorthCardiff North is aborough constituency in the city of Cardiff. It returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system....
. The couple live in
Michaelston-le-PitMichaelston-le-Pit is a village to the west of the city of Cardiff, Wales.To the south lies Penarth, while to the south west lies the village of Dinas Powys.It is the home to present Welsh Assembly leader Rhodri Morgan...
(a village situated outside their constituencies), and are supporters of the
British Humanist AssociationThe British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
. They have a son and two daughters.
In July 2007, Rhodri Morgan was admitted to hospital where he underwent heart surgery. Even though he left hospital within the week, doctors said he would not be fully recovered for a few weeks.
Early career
Before entering politics, Rhodri Morgan worked as an Industrial Development Officer for
South GlamorganSouth Glamorgan is a preserved county of Wales.It was originally formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a county council area...
County Council from 1974 to 1980. He then served as Head of the
European Community'sThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
office in Wales from 1980 to 1987.
Westminster
Morgan was elected as
LabourWelsh Labour is part of the United Kingdom Labour Party which operates in Wales. Labour is the largest and most successful political party in modern Welsh politics, having won the largest share of the vote at every UK General Election and Welsh Assembly election since 1922, and each European...
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
(MP) for
Cardiff WestCardiff West or West Cardiff refers to the collection of communities in the west of Cardiff, Wales. Also the usage is unofficial and boundaries are only ambiguously defined, they generally share the postcodes CF5 or CF15, and the telephone code 029...
in 1987. From 1988 to 1994, he was a Shadow Environment Spokesman. He was also Chairman of the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members...
Select Committee on Public AdministrationThe Public Administration Select Committee is a Select Committee appointed by the British House of Commons to examine the reports of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and the Parliamentary Ombudsman for Northern Ireland....
(1997-1999), and
OppositionIn politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government, party or group in political control of an area, county, or state....
Front BenchIn many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
Spokesman on
EnergyIn physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law...
(1988-92) and Welsh Affairs (1992-1997). He stepped down from the
British House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members...
at the
2001 General ElectionThe UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' in a row, maintaining its...
.
First Assembly (1999)
A committed supporter of Welsh
devolutionDevolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a Sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level...
, Morgan contested the position of Labour's nominee for the (then titled) First Secretary of the Welsh Assembly. He lost to the then
Secretary of State for WalesThe Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the United Kingdom cabinet. He is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
, Ron Davies. Davies was then forced to resign his position after an alleged sex scandal, whereupon Morgan again ran for the post. His opponent,
Alun MichaelAlun Edward Michael JP MP is a Welsh politician. He is Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Cardiff South and Penarth. He has been a member of the Privy Council since 1998.-Education:...
, the new Secretary of State for Wales, was seen as a reluctant participant despite also having a long-standing commitment to Welsh devolution, and was widely regarded as being the choice of the UK leadership of the Labour Party.
Michael was duly elected to the leadership but resigned a little more than a year later, amid threats of an imminent no-confidence vote and widespread plotting against him by members of not only his own party, but also Assembly groups and Cabinet members. Rhodri Morgan became Labour's new nominee for First Secretary, and was elected in February 2000, later becoming First Minister on 16 October 2000 when the position was retitled. He was also appointed to the Privy Council in July 2000. Morgan stepped down from the
House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 646 members, who are known as "Members...
at the
2001 General ElectionThe UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' in a row, maintaining its...
.
Morgan's leadership has been characterised by a willingness to distance himself from a number of aspects of UK Labour party policy, particularly in relation to plans to introduce choice and competition into
public servicesPublic services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...
, which he has argued do not fit Welsh attitudes and values, and would not work effectively in a smaller and more rural country. In a speech given in
SwanseaSwansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
to the
National Centre for Public PolicySwansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales, following the report of the Haldane Commission into University Education in Wales...
in November 2002, Morgan stated his opposition to foundation hospitals (a UK Labour proposal), and referred to the "clear red water" separating policies in Wales and in
WestminsterThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
.
Second Assembly (2003)
On 1 May 2003, Labour under Morgan's leadership was re-elected in the Assembly elections. Morgan managed to win enough seats to form a Labour-only administration (the election was held under
proportional representationProportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of electoral formula aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive...
, and Labour won 30 of the 60 seats in the Assembly and the overall majority was achieved when
Dafydd Elis-ThomasDafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC, AM, is a Welsh politician and current Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales...
AM was elected Presiding Officer of the Assembly) and named his cabinet on 9 May. In that election, Labour easily took back all of the former strongholds they lost to
Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union.Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
at the height of Alun Michael's unpopularity in 1999.
In his second term, Morgan's administration continued its theme of "Welsh solutions for Welsh problems", a marked contrast to the Blairite public service reform agenda. Instead of competition, Welsh Labour emphasised the need for
collaborationCollaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals — for example, an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Most collaboration requires leadership, although...
between public service providers.
Third Assembly (2007)
Labour is the biggest party with 26 out of the 60 seats, four short of an overall majority. After one month of
minority governmentA minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when the governing political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. It is also known as a hung parliament...
, Morgan signed a
coalition agreementIn multiparty democracies, a coalition agreement is an agreement between the parties that form the cabinet. It codifies the most important goals and objectives of the cabinet. It is often written by the leaders of the parliamentary parties....
(
One WalesOne Wales is the coalition agreement for the National Assembly for Wales between the Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru agreed to by Rhodri Morgan, Welsh First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour, and Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, on 27 June 2007...
) with
Ieuan Wyn JonesIeuan Wyn Jones, AM is leader of Plaid Cymru, Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government and Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Ynys Môn constituency. He was Member of the UK parliament for Ynys Môn constituency from 1987-2001...
, leader of
Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union.Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
, on 27 June 2007. Rhodri Morgan is the first modern political leader of Wales to lead a law-making government.
As head of the civil service in Wales, Morgan's
administrationSir Jon Shortridge KCB is a British Civil Servant. He served as the Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Office in March 1999 and of the National Assembly for Wales on its creation in May 1999. He became Permanent Secretary of the Welsh Assembly Government on its establishment as a separate...
has been faced with a number of legal issues including an employment tribunal when the service dismissed blogger Christopher Glamorganshire in the Autumn of 2007 , and a civil court action from Christine Davies after an accusation of sexual harassment from a senior manager was ignored. Davies went on to confirm that "sexual harassment and bullying is widespread in the Welsh Assembly – and that women are intimidated by some male bosses on a daily basis".
Retirement
On his 70th birthday, 29 September 2009, Rhodri Morgan announced his intention to retire as First Minister for Wales following the Assembly's budget session on 8 December 2009. Counsel General
Carwyn JonesCarwyn Howell Jones AM, , is the Labour Assembly Member for Bridgend. In the coalition government of Labour and Plaid Cymru, was appointed Counsel General for Wales and Leader of the House on 19 July 2007. Along with a number of other Assembly Members, he is a fluent Welsh speaker...
, Health Minister
Edwina HartEdwina Hart MBE AM, is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the National Assembly for Wales representing Gower since 1999. She is also Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Health and Social Services since May 2007....
and Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney AM
Huw LewisHuw Lewis, is the Labour Co-operative National Assembly for Wales member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney.-Personal:Lewis was born in Merthyr Tydfil and was brought up in Aberfan. He is married to Lynne Neagle, the Labour Assembly member for Torfaen...
are expected to enter the leadership contest that will now take place to elect a new Labour leader in the Assembly.
Offices held