Lord Touhig
James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig (born 5 December 1947), known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn from 1995 to 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he served in government as an Assistant Whip from 1999 to 2001 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2001 to 2006. Early life He went to St Francis RC School in Abersychan near Pontypool, then the Mid Gwent College (now Coleg Gwent) in Pontypool. Before entering parliament, he had been a journalist from 1968–76. From 1976–90, he was the Editor of the Free Press of Monmouthshire (Monmouth Free Press). From 1988–92, he was the general manager and Editor-in-Chief of the Free Press Group of newspapers. He was the general manager (business development) of the Bailey Group from 1992–3, then of Bailey Print from 1993–5. He served on Gwent County Council from 1973–95. He joined the TGWU in 1962 and the Labour Party in 1966. Pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is always pronounced. Countries with common or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chris Evans (UK Politician)
Christopher James Evans (born 17 July 1977) is a Welsh Labour Co-operative politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn since 2010, and the Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement since 2021. Evans is a published author whose work includes a biographies of former Leeds United manager Don Revie and boxer Freddie Mills. Early life Chris Evans was brought up in the Rhondda valleys. He graduated with a history degree from Trinity College, Carmarthen. At the age of 13 he suffered a serious leg injury in a road traffic collision and underwent months of recovery: he later stated that the experience, on top of the stress caused by his parents' divorce, had caused him to develop body dysmorphic disorder. Before being elected to Parliament he worked as a bookmaker, in a bank and as a trade union official. He worked as a parliamentary researcher to then-Islwyn MP Don Touhig for four years. Parliamentary career He was the Labour candidate for Cheltenham at the 2005 g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richmond And Barnes (UK Parliament Constituency)
Richmond and Barnes was a parliamentary constituency in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, a south-western suburb of the capital. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created in 1983 and abolished in 1997. History Richmond and Barnes was a Tory-Liberal marginal for its 14-year existence, and was represented for the whole of that time by Jeremy Hanley of the Conservative Party. Hanley's main opponent was Alan Watson of the SDP–Liberal Alliance The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. Formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party, the SDP–Liberal Alliance was established in 1981, contest ..., who narrowly failed to win the seat in the 1983 and 1987 elections. Boundaries The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames wards of Barnes, East Sheen, East Twickenham, Ham and Petersham ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Transport And General Workers' Union
The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate itself from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union – with 900,000 members (and was once the largest trade union in the world). It was founded in 1922 and Ernest Bevin served as its first general secretary. In 2007, it merged with Amicus to form Unite the Union. History At the time of its creation in 1922, the TGWU was the largest and most ambitious amalgamation brought about within trade unionism. Its structure combined regional organisation, based on Districts and Areas, with committee organisation by occupation, based on six broad Trade Groups. Trade groups were not closely linked to trades, but were elected by activists. Officials of the union were grouped by region, and could be asked to serve each or any trade group. Docks ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gwent (county)
Gwent is a preserved county and former local government county in southeast Wales. A county of Gwent was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972; it was named after the ancient Kingdom of Gwent. The authority was a successor to both the administrative county of Monmouthshire (with minor boundary changes) and the county borough of Newport (both authorities which were legally part of England until the Act came into force although considered jointly with Wales for certain purposes). Under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the county of Gwent was abolished on 1 April 1996. However, the name remains in use for one of the preserved counties of Wales for the ceremonial purposes of Lieutenancy and High Shrievalty, and its name also survives in various titles, e.g. Gwent Police, Royal Gwent Hospital, Gwent Wildlife Trust and Coleg Gwent. "Gwent" is often used as a synonym for the historic county of Monmouthshire – for example the Gwent Family History Societ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pontypool Free Press
The ''Pontypool Free Press'' is an English language weekly regional newspaper that was originally published in Pontypool, as the ''Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills'', in 1859 and is circulated in Pontypool and the surrounding area of Torfaen, in south-east Wales. History The ''Pontypool Free Press and Herald of the Hills'' was established in 1859, with the first edition on 5 March 1859. It was printed and published in Pontypool, in English, by the proprietor David Walkinshaw. In 1877 Henry Hughes Junior agreed to purchase the paper, along with the ''Pontypool Local Register and the Pontypool Almanack'', for £1,000 from Walkinshaw. The name of the newspaper changed on 5 July 1879, to ''The Pontypool Free Press'', and on 2 April 1909 to ''The Free Press of Monmouthshire''. In the 1980s, Don Touhig, later to become the Member of Parliament for Islwyn and a life peer, was editor of the newspaper. Touhig worked on the paper from 1968 to 1994, starting as a journalist, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coleg Gwent
Coleg Gwent ( en, Gwent College) is Wales' largest further education college at various locations in the former county of Gwent, South Wales. It has 24,000 students ranging from secondary school leavers to mature students. A wide range of part-time and full-time academic and vocational courses are on offer at the college. Campuses The college operates from five campuses – City of Newport, Crosskeys, Pontypool, Usk and Blaenau Gwent. The college's administrative headquarters are located at the Usk campus. There are also two 'Learn-IT' centres, based in Monmouth and Cwmbrân. These offer flexible, drop-in courses on a range of Information Technology subjects as well as marketing, maths, English language and Welsh language. Collaboration The college works in collaboration with the five local education authorities in South East Wales to provide an extensive curriculum designed to meet the needs of learners of all ages. Student support Coleg Gwent has a range of learner ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pontypool
Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd river in the county borough of Torfaen. Located at the eastern edge of the South Wales coalfields, Pontypool grew around industries including iron and steel production, coal mining and the growth of the railways. A rather artistic manufacturing industry which also flourished here alongside heavy industry was Japanning, a type of lacquer ware. Pontypool itself consists of several smaller districts, these include Abersychan, Cwmffrwdoer, Pontnewynydd, Trevethin, Penygarn, Wainfelin, Tranch, Brynwern, Pontymoile, Blaendare, Cwmynyscoy, New Inn, Griffithstown and Sebastopol. History The name of the town in Welsh – ''Pont-y-pŵl'' – originates from a bridge ('pont') associated with a pool in the Afon Lwyd. The Welsh word ''pŵl'' is a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Parliamentary Under-Secretary Of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of Minister (government), government minister in the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government, immediately junior to a Minister of State, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State. Background The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 provides that at any one time there can be no more than 83 paid ministers (not counting the Lord Chancellor, up to 3 law officers and up to 22 whips). Of these, no more than 50 ministers can be paid the salary of a minister senior to a Parliamentary Secretary. Thus if 50 senior ministers are appointed, the maximum number of paid Parliamentary Secretaries is 33. The limit on the number of unpaid Parliamentary Secretaries is given by the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 ensuring that no more than 95 government ministers of any ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Life Peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of a life peer are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable", although they cannot inherit the peerage itself. Before 1887 The Crown, as '' fount of honour'', creates peerages of two types, being hereditary or for life. In the early days of the peerage, the Sovereign had the right to summon individuals to one Parliament without being bound to summon them again. Over time, it was established that once summoned, a peer would have to be summoned for the remainder of their life, and later, that the peer's heirs and successors would also be summoned, thereby firmly entren ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ministry Of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement. The expenditure, administration and policy of the MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee, except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. History During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during the First World War, concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up the armed forces of the United Kingdom: t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Whip (politics)
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party. The term is taken from the "whipper-in" during a hunt, who tries to prevent hounds from wandering away from a hunting pack. Additionally, the term "whip" may mean the voting instructions issued to legislators, or the status of a certain legislator in their party's parliamentary grouping. Etymology The expression ''whip'' in its parliamentary context, derived from its origins in hunting terminology. The ''Oxford English ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |