Mark Drakeford

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Mark Drakeford (2011)

Mark Drakeford (born September 19, 1954 in Carmarthen ) is a British politician. Since November 6, 2018 he is chairman of the Welsh Labor Party , since 13 December to Prime Minister of Wales . In both offices he succeeded Carwyn Jones , who had not run again.

Education and professional career

Drakeford was born in the village of Carmarthen in west Wales, where he also grew up. His father was a teacher, his grandparents were farmers. After graduating from high school, he studied Latin at the University of Kent . In 1979 he came to Pontcanna , a parish in the Principal Area Cardiff , where he has lived ever since. He worked there as a probation officer , looked after juveniles who had committed criminal offenses and led Barnardo projects in the towns of Ely and Caraeu. His professional experience made him consider taking up a teaching position at universities in the fields of social policy and applied social science , first as a lecturer at the University of Swansea and later as a professor at the University of Cardiff .

politics

Drakeford made his first political experiences between 1985 and 1993 as a member of the South Glamorgan District Assembly ; there he was particularly concerned with issues of educational policy . In the May 1999 election , he ran for a seat in the National Assembly for Wales in the Cardiff Central constituency, but was defeated by Jenny Randerson of the Liberal Democrats . Between 2000 and 2010, Drakeford was an advisor to the Welsh Government on health and welfare issues and then worked for former First Minister Rhodri Morgan . In this time imprinted Drakeford the term "clear red water" ( German  clear, red water ) to the political ideas Morgans of Tony Blair's " New Labor " to distinguish. Since Morgan had previously announced his retirement from politics, Drakeford was able to take over his seat in the National Assembly for the constituency of Cardiff West in the election in May 2011 . There he chaired the parliamentary committee on health and social security. In May 2013, with the same field of responsibility, he moved to the government bank as State Secretary. After Drakeford defended his mandate in May 2016 , he was appointed Minister of Finance and Local Government. As part of a government reshuffle, he handed over the latter area to Alun Davies on November 3, 2017 , and instead became responsible for preparing for Brexit . In this role, he announced in September 2018 that he was in favor of a second referendum in the event that a withdrawal agreement did not adequately protect workers' rights. He also supported the unions ' view of ultimately letting the electorate decide on leaving.

After Labor Chairman and First Minister Carwyn Jones announced his retirement from active politics, Drakeford ran for the party chairmanship in the subsequent ballot . He was considered a favorite from the start and was able to prevail in the runoff election against Vaughan Gething on December 6, 2018 ; Eluned Morgan had previously retired. On December 12th, parliament also elected him as the new head of government. He received 30 votes; his opponent, the conservative Paul Davies , received 12 votes and Adam Price from Plaid Cymru received 9 votes. The UK Independence Party MPs abstained. After the necessary confirmation had been given by the British Queen , he took his oath of office the following day.

Drakeford is on the left wing of the Labor Party. He was the only member of the Welsh government to support Jeremy Corbyn when he ran for chairmanship of the entire party in autumn 2015. After his election as national chairman of Wales, Drakeford announced that the party would follow "radical socialist traditions" under his leadership. In addition to Rhodri Morgan, he also sees Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot as political role models . One of his most pressing tasks for the near future, in addition to dealing with Brexit, is to solve the problem of building a highly controversial bypass route for Newport and, within the party, to heal the upheavals that arose from the dismissal and subsequent suicide of Minister Carl Sargeant . He also advocates smoking bans in city centers.

Others

Drakeford is a member of the trade unions Unite the Union and Unison as well as a sustaining member of the LGBT group of Labor. He is married and has three grown children.

literature

Web links

Commons : Mark Drakeford  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Welsh Labor leadership: Mark Drakeford set to be Wales' first minister . BBC, December 6, 2018, accessed the following day. (English)
  2. ^ Hannah Waldram: "I need to do the job in my way" - Mark Drakeford, new AM for Cardiff West. The Guardian , May 24, 2011, accessed December 7, 2018. (English)
  3. ↑ Results of the 1999 general election in the Cardiff Central constituency, on the National Assembly website for Wales, accessed December 7, 2018.
  4. ^ Ex-plaid leader Lord Elis-Thomas gets Labor Welsh Government job. BBC, November 3, 2017, accessed December 7, 2018
  5. ^ Welsh Labor's Mark Drakeford moves towards second EU vote. BBC, September 12, 2018, accessed December 7, 2018. (English)
  6. ^ Contenders for next Welsh Labor leader launch bids. BBC, October 8, 2018, accessed December 7, 2018. (English)
  7. ↑ Mark Drakeford confirmed as new Welsh first minister. BBC, December 12, 2018, accessed on the same day. (English)
  8. ^ Wales new First Minister Mark Drakeford is sworn in. BBC, December 13, 2018, accessed the same day. (English)
  9. ↑ Corbyn ally Mark Drakeford to be new Welsh first minister. The Guardian, December 6, 2018, accessed the following day.
  10. ↑ List of Drakeford's financial connections, club memberships and employed family members on the National Assembly of Wales website, accessed December 7, 2018. (English)
personal data
SURNAME Drakeford, Mark
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 19, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Carmarthen , Wales, United Kingdom