Rhodri Morgan

The Right Honourable Hywel Rhodri Morgan AM
First Minister for Wales
In office 9 February 2000 – 9 December 2009
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Ieuan Wyn Jones Michael German
Preceded by	Alun Michael
Succeeded by	Carwyn Jones
Leader of the Welsh Labour Party
In office 9 February 2000 – 1 December 2009
Preceded by	Alun Michael
Succeeded by	Carwyn Jones
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Cardiff West
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 1999
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Majority	3,698 (13.8%)
Member of Parliament for Cardiff West
In office 11 June 1987 – 7 June 2001
Preceded by	Stefan Terlezki
Succeeded by	Kevin Brennan
Personal details
Born	(1939-09-29) 29 September 1939 Cardiff, Wales
Political party	Labour

Hywel Rhodri Morgan (born 29 September 1939) is a Welsh politician who was the second First Secretary for Wales and the first person to use the title First Minister for Wales, serving from 2000 to 2009. A member of the Welsh Labour Party, he has been the Assembly Member for Cardiff West since 1999. He is the longest serving Welsh First Minister to date, being in power continuously for 9 years and 10 months.

Private life

Born in Cardiff, Rhodri Morgan is the son of Professor T. J. Morgan and the brother of the historian, Prys Morgan.

Morgan was educated at Whitchurch Grammar School (merged with Whitchurch County Secondary School to become the comprehensive Whitchurch High School in 1972) in Whitchurch, Cardiff; St John's College, Oxford studying PPE; and Harvard University, where he gained an MA.

In 1967, he married Julie Edwards, now Labour MP for Cardiff North. The couple live in Michaelston-le-Pit (a village situated outside their constituencies), and are supporters of the British Humanist Association. They have a son and two daughters.

In July 2007, 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.

Career

Early career

Before entering politics, Morgan worked as an Industrial Development Officer for South Glamorgan County Council from 1974 to 1980. He then served as Head of the European Community's office in Wales from 1980 to 1987.

Westminster

Morgan was elected as Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff West in 1987. From 1988 to 1994, he was a Shadow Environment Spokesman. He was also Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Public Administration (1997-1999), and Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Energy (1988-92) and Welsh Affairs (1992-1997). He stepped down from the British House of Commons at the 2001 General Election.

National Assembly for Wales

First Assembly (1999)

A committed supporter of Welsh devolution, Morgan contested the position of Labour's nominee for the (then titled) First Secretary for Wales. He lost to the then Secretary of State 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 Michael, 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 alleged plotting against him by members of not only his own party, but also Assembly groups and Cabinet members. 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 Commons at the 2001 General Election.

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 services, 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 Swansea to the National Centre for Public Policy 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 Westminster.

Second Assembly (2003)

Rhodri Morgan meets U.S. Ambassador Robert Tuttle on 7 October 2005 in Cardiff.

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 representation, and Labour won 30 of the 60 seats in the Assembly and the overall majority was achieved when Dafydd Elis-Thomas 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 Cymru 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 collaboration 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 government, Morgan signed a coalition agreement (One Wales) with Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, 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 administration 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, Morgan announced his intention to retire as First Minister for Wales following the Assembly's budget session on 8 December 2009. Counsel General Carwyn Jones, Health Minister Edwina Hart and Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney AM Huw Lewis entered a leadership contest to elect a new Labour leader in Wales. On 1 December 2009 the winner was declared as Carwyn Jones.