Michael James German, Baron German, OBE (born 8 May 1945) is a British politician, serving currently as a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

and formerly as a member of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

for the

South Wales East South Wales East () is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, w ...

region. He was leader of the

Welsh Liberal Democrats The Welsh Liberal Democrats ( cy, Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru) are a branch of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats that operates in Wales. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who served as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire from August to Decemb ...

from 2007 to 2008. In 1996, he was awarded an OBE for his public and political service.

Biography

German was educated at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

and St Mary's College. In his early life he was a member of 28th Cardiff Sea Scout Group. He trained and worked as a

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a res ...

before becoming Head of the European Unit at the

Welsh Joint Education Committee , native name = , native_name_lang = , logo = WJEC CBAC logo.svg , image = WJEC Cardiff 1.JPG , caption = Headquarters of the WJEC , formation = 1948 , full_name = W ...

. Has also been a

school governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for the ...

Political career

His political career spans over three decades. He was elected as councillor on Cardiff City Council ( Cathays ward) in 1983, together with his wife, Georgette German (

Plasnewydd Plasnewydd (meaning ''New Manor'' or ''New Place'' in English) is an electoral ward (and formerly the name of a community) of Cardiff, Wales. It falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff Central. It is bounded by the electoral wa ...

). He was Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats on the City Council between 1983–1996 and joint leader of the Council from 1987 to 1991; he was elected to the

in 1999 and re-elected in 2003 and 2007. In the 1996 New Year Honours he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire "for political and public service". He contested Cardiff North in October 1974 and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

for the Liberals, before fighting Cardiff Central in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

for 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 ...

, but was unsuccessful on each occasion. In the first

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh ...

election in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, he contested the Caerphilly constituency, coming third with 12.4% of the vote. He was however elected at the same election for the South Wales East regional seat. Under a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition he became Deputy First Minister 2000-01 (and Economic Development Secretary) and again in 2002-03 (and Minister for Rural Affairs and Wales Abroad). He stepped down from the role of Deputy First Minister between the two dates to answer allegations made about his role at the Welsh examination board, the WJEC. During this period he was temporarily replaced by

Jenny Randerson Jennifer Elizabeth Randerson, Baroness Randerson (born 26 May 1948) is a Welsh Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. She is former junior minister in the Wales Office serving in the Cameron–Clegg coalition. Prior to her peerage she ...

as Acting Deputy First Minister. In November 2007, Mike German became leader of the

, after

Lembit Opik Lembit is an Estonian masculine given name. A variant is Lembitu. It sometimes also may be a surname. Lembit may refer to: *Lembitu (died 1217), Estonian elder and military leader from Sakala County *Lembit Arro (born 1930), Estonian politician ...

stood down to ensure that the leadership of the party was in the National Assembly and not Westminster. He was succeeded in 2008 by

Kirsty Williams Victoria Kirstyn Williams (born 19 March 1971) is a Welsh politician who served as Minister for Education in the Welsh Government from 2016 to 2021. She was a Member of the Senedd (MS) from 1999 to 2021. She previously served as the Leader of ...

. German's political interests include skills development in small and large companies in Wales, constitutional affairs,

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

and regeneration. In May 2010, German was named to the

as a 'working peer' in the

2010 Dissolution Honours The 2010 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 28 May 2010 at the advice of the outgoing Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. The list was gazetted on 15 June. Life Peerages Conservative * Timothy Eric Boswell - former Whip and Parliamentary secret ...

list. He was succeeded to the Assembly in June 2010 by his wife, Veronica, a

Torfaen Torfaen (; cy, Torfaen ) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. Torfaen is bordered by the county of Monmouthshire to the east, the city of Newport to the south, and the county boroughs of Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent to the south-w ...

councillor, as she was the next candidate on the regional party list in 2007. German took his seat as Baron German, of Llanfrechfa in the County Borough of

In the House of Lords

In summer 2021, it was proposed by the

Second Johnson ministry The second Johnson ministry began on 16 December 2019, three days after Boris Johnson's audience with Queen Elizabeth II where she invited him to form a new administration following the 2019 general election, in which the Conservative Party ...

to mandate that care home staff be required as a condition of employment to maintain

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

vaccination status, as part of the

Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2021 The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Synopsis The Act was created on 11 March 2009 with the following regulated activities: * provision of health care to patients by a National Health Ser ...

. The members of the

Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee The Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (formerly the Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee) is a select committee of the House of Lords that refers secondary legislation, such as statutory instruments, to the House that it considers int ...

, amongst whom was German, raised concerns about this proposal. German said at the time that "we have consistently made clear our view that all key definitions and criteria on which decisions that might affect a person’s welfare or livelihood will be made, should be included in legislation and not in guidance which cannot be subjected to appropriate Parliamentary scrutiny or approval."

References

External links

Michael German AM website

official biography at the National Assembly for Wales website
Welsh Liberal Democrats website

Official biography at House of Lords

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:German, Michael 1945 births Living people Liberal Democrat members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Wales AMs 2003–2007 Wales AMs 2007–2011 Leaders of political parties in Wales Officers of the Order of the British Empire Councillors in Cardiff Alumni of the Open University Members of the Welsh Assembly Government Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II