James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig (born 5 December 1947), known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and

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 ...

who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Islwyn The Borough of Islwyn was one of five local government districts of Gwent from 1974 to 1996. History The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government district of Gwent. It covered the whole area of three former districts and part of a four ...

from 1995 to 2010. A member of the

Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidat ...

parties, he served in government as an Assistant

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from 1999 to 2001 and a

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 minist ...

from 2001 to 2006.

Early life

He went to St Francis RC School in

Abersychan Abersychan is a town and community (Wales), community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the Monmouthshire (historic), historic county of Monmouthshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county o ...

near

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 ri ...

, then the Mid Gwent College (now

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- ...

) 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 Gwent County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gwent) was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was ...

from 1973–95. He joined the

TGWU 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 its ...

in 1962 and the Labour Party in 1966.

Parliamentary career

House of Commons

Touhig contested the Richmond and Barnes constituency at the 1992 general election, but reached third-place behind the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

candidates. Following the resignation of

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British former politician. As a member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of ...

, former

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and Leader of the Labour Party, he was elected to succeed him as MP for

at the by-election on 16 February 1995. From 1996 to 1997, Touhig was a Member of the

Welsh Affairs Select Committee The Welsh Affairs Select Committee (or simply the 'Welsh Affairs Committee') is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy ...

. He served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

(PPS) to

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

, then

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

, from May 1997 to July 1999. He had to resign as PPS in 1999, when he confessed to receiving a leaked Social Security Select Committee report on

Child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most co ...

. He was later suspended for three days from the Commons. He was appointed to serve as an Assistant

from November 1999 to June 2001. He was a junior minister at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, with special responsibility for veterans, but left government in the May 2006 reshuffle. He was made a Member of the Privy Council on 19 July 2006. In Paul Flynn's 1999 book ''Dragons and Poodles'', he was described as being the "seamstress-in-chief of stitch ups", that he could be "ambitious" and "can be pompous". On 29 January 2010, Touhig announced that he would stand down at the 2010 General Election.

House of Lords

On 28 June 2010, Touhig was made a

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

as Baron Touhig, of

and Glansychan in the

County of Gwent 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 ...

. He was appointed to the opposition front bench as a

and Shadow Spokesperson for

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

in September 2015, serving as a Whip until September 2016 and a Defence Spokesperson until October 2017. He returned to the defence brief from April 2020 to May 2021.

Personal life

Touhig was married on 21 September 1968 to Jennifer Hughes. She died in 2014 from cancer, aged 67. They have two sons and two daughters.

Honours

He is a papal knight of the

Order of Saint Sylvester Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Sylvester Pope and Martyr ( la, Ordo Sancti Silvestri Papae, it, Ordine di San Silvestro Papa), sometimes referred to as the Sylvestrine Order, or the Pontifical Order of Pope Saint Sylvester, is one of five o ...

(KSS).

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Don Touhig MP

Voting record at the Public Whip

TheyWorkForYou.com – Don Touhig MP

BBC Politics page

Blake's Parliamentary Yearbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Touhig, Don 1947 births Living people Labour Co-operative MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Welsh Roman Catholics UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Welsh Labour councillors Labour Co-operative life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II