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Lifetime Achievement in Politics

Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM

The jury chose Rhodri Morgan for a Lifetime Achievement in Politics Award in view of his major contribution to political life in the UK and especially to the recent development of Welsh politics and the Welsh Assembly. Having served as a Labour MP in the British Parliament from 1987 he chose to step down in 2001 in order to devote his energies to the new Welsh Assembly. He is a committed supporter of Welsh devolution. He subsequently became First Minister of the Assembly in 2000. In this role he has consistently demonstrated his willingness to distance himself from aspects of Labour Government policy and look for ‘Welsh solutions for Welsh problems’.

The son of a Professor of Welsh at the University of Wales, Mr Morgan was a natural choice to head the Welsh Assembly during its formative early years. Born in Cardiff in 1939, he studied PPE at St John's College, Oxford, before gaining an MA at Harvard. His first job was with the Workers' Educational Association. In 1965 he embarked on a career in local and national government. From 1974 to 1980 he was industrial development officer for South Glamorgan County Council, and between 1980 and 1987 headed the European Commission Office in Wales.

At the 1987 election he stood successfully for Labour in the Cardiff West seat. His talent was quickly spotted and within a year he was selected to serve as spokesman on energy, before moving to Welsh affairs. After Labour came to power in 1997 he chaired the Select Committee on Public Administration. The year 1997 also saw approval in a referendum for the idea of a Welsh Assembly, a goal Mr Morgan had long supported. Unlike Scotland, Wales had no clear blueprint for the shape such an assembly might take, and Mr Morgan was closely involved in the subsequent deliberations, pressing for both proportional representation and the adoption of more women candidates.

In 1998 Mr Morgan stood for the leadership of the Welsh Labour Party, but lost to Ron Davies. The following year Davies was forced to step down following a scandal, but Mr Morgan once again narrowly failed to take the leadership, and the near-certainty of becoming the country's first directly elected leader, this time losing to Alun Michael.