Leighton Andrews

Leighton Andrews (born August 11, 1957, in Cardiff) is a Welsh Labour politician, currently the National Assembly for Wales member for Rhondda since 2003.

Education

University of Wales, Bangor and the University of Sussex.

Professional career

Former head of public affairs for the BBC Wales. Lecturer at Cardiff University School of Journalism.

Political career

Leighton Andrews joined Labour in the mid-1990s, following the successful referendum campaign for a Welsh Assembly. Leighton Andrews was one of the founder members of the Yes for Wales campaign and is the author of "Wales Says Yes", a history of that campaign.

Second Assembly In 2002 Leighton Andrews was selected to fight Rhondda for Labour, after the party's shock defeat to Plaid Cymru's Geraint Davies at the 1999 Assembly election. Andrews retook the seat, with the highest increase in Labour's vote of any constituency in Wales (+21.1%)

Since his election he has made the case for a redefinition of funding formulae away from rurality and toward sparsity and proximity. He has sat on the Economic Development and Transport Committee (January 2005 -); Audit Committee (June 2003 -); Culture Committee (June 2003 - November 2005); and Education and Lifelong Learning Committee (June 2003 - January 2005).

His re-election in 2007 with Labour's highest share of the vote in Wales, despite a national swing against Labour, was seen as an acknowledgment of his efforts.

Third Assembly

Andrews was appointed to the Welsh Assembly Government on 31 May 2007, as a Deputy Minister for Social Justice and Public Service Delivery. On July 19 he was appointed as Deputy Minister for Regeneration in the coalition government.

Burberry Campaign

He was one of the leaders of the high-profile campaign to keep Burberry jobs in the Rhondda, for which he and Rhondda MP Chris Bryant were recognised as joint campaigners of the year in the 2007 BBC Wales political awards.

The Burberry Campaign failed with the factory closing in March 2007, with the loss of 300 jobs.. However, the campaign resulted in the factory staying open longer than Burberry had originally planned, in improved redundancy terms, and in the creation of a charitable trust for the local community.

Media

His media and debating skills were recognised in December 2005 when he was named as Best New AM in the ITV Wales Political Awards; and Best Communicator in the BBC Wales AM-PM awards.

External links

• Website and blog of Leighton Andrews AM

• Website of the Welsh Assembly Government
• Assembly Handbook

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