|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hywel Rhodri Morgan (born 29 September 1939) is a Welsh politician and the second and current First Minister for Wales. He was born in Cardiff and educated at Whitchurch Grammar School, St John's College, Oxford and Harvard University. He worked for South Glamorgan County Council from 1974 to 1980 before becoming head of the European Community's office in Wales. He was elected as Labour 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 became First Minister on 16 October, 2000, having held the same post under its old title of "First Secretary" since February of that year. He was appointed to the Privy Council in July 2000.
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 was elected as the new Labour nominee, and thus First Minister. He stepped down from the British 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. Welsh Labour has instead favoured a relatively conservative approach to managing public services, emphasising central co-ordination and collaboration between public service providers.[1] Critics of this type of approach, like Julian Le Grand, argue that it offers weak incentives for providers to respond to the needs of service users. In practice, there have been complaints about a perceived lack of delivery in Welsh public services, most notably in health, where hospital waiting lists remain far higher than in England,[2] and to a lesser extent in education where GCSE results also lag behind England. [3].
Rhodri Morgan's pastimes include reading and leisurely driving around the Cardiff Bay area meeting his constituents. His wife, Julie, is the Labour MP for Cardiff North. The couple are supporters of the British Humanist Association. References
|
Sites |
Searched sites for "Rhodri Morgan" |
|
No sites found. |
Sorry, no matching site records were found. |
Want your site listed here?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
