Paul Murphy

The Right Honourable  Paul Murphy  MP
Murphy (centre) with Bertie Ahern, David Manning, George W. Bush and Mitchell Reiss at the White House for St. Patrick's Day. (2005)
Secretary of State for Wales
In office 24 January 2008 – 5 June 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Peter Hain
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
In office 28 July 1999 – 24 October 2002
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Alun Michael
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office 24 October 2002 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
Member of Parliament for Torfaen
Incumbent
Assumed office  11 June 1987
Preceded by	Leo Abse
Majority	14,791 (41.1%)
Born	25 November 1948 (1948-11-25) (age 61) Usk, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Oriel College, Oxford
Religion	Roman Catholic

Paul Peter Murphy (born 25 November 1948) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Torfaen since 1987, and served in the Cabinet as both Northern Irish and Welsh Secretary.

Education and background

Murphy attended St Francis Roman Catholic School in Abersychan, West Monmouth School in Pontypool and Oriel College, Oxford. His leisure interests include classical music and cooking.

He was a management trainee with the CWS, before becoming a lecturer in Government and History at Ebbw Vale College of Further Education, now known as Coleg Gwent.

He is Roman Catholic. He was made a Knight Commander of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George "for helping to promote peace in Northern Ireland".

He is an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College in 2000. He is also a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow of St. Antony's College, Oxford.

Early political career

Murphy joined the Labour Party at the age of 15. He is also a member of the Transport and General Workers Union. He was Secretary of the Pontypool/Torfaen Constituency Labour Party from 1971 to 1987. Paul was a member of Torfaen Council from 1973 to 1987 and was Chair of its Finance Committee from 1976 to 1986. He contested Wells Constituency in Somerset in the 1979 General Election.

Senior Cabinet posts

He has been MP for Torfaen, Wales since the 1987 election. In opposition he served as a foreign affairs spokesperson and then in defence as navy spokesperson.

He was has served twice as Secretary of State for Wales on 28 July 1999 to 24 October 2002 and again from 2008 to 2009. He was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 24 October 2002 to 5 May 2005. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1999.

He was succeeded by Peter Hain and left the government, becoming chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee in May 2005. He was also British Chair of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body and an Executive Committee member of the British-American Parliamentary Group.

He was re-appointed Secretary of State for Wales on 24 January 2008, following the resignation of Peter Hain. He was also given the job of chairing a new Cabinet Committee on the sensitive issue of IT and information security, in the wake of a rash of scandals surrounding the loss of personal data by Government agencies. In April 2008 he was appointed as the Government's Minister for Digital Inclusion.

Prior to joining the Cabinet he was Minister of State for political development in the Northern Ireland Office from 1997 to 1999 - acting as Mo Mowlam's deputy - and was largely responsible for negotiating the so-called strand two ('North-South' or 'Island of Ireland') arrangements agreed in the Good Friday Agreement. In 1999, he was named 'Minister to Watch' at the Spectator Parliamentary Awards.

Voting Record

In a free parliamentary vote on 20 May 2008, Paul Murphy voted for cutting the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 12 weeks, along with two other Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly and Des Browne. ^[1]

References

External links

• Paul Murphy MP's official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Paul Murphy MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Paul Murphy MP

Offices held

v • d • e Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw · Francis Pym · Merlyn Rees · Roy Mason · Humphrey Atkins · James Prior · Douglas Hurd · Tom King · Peter Brooke · Patrick Mayhew · Mo Mowlam · Peter Mandelson · John Reid · Paul Murphy · Peter Hain* · Shaun Woodward *Also Secretary of State for Wales