Altaf Hussain (Welsh politician)
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Altaf Hussain is a
Welsh Conservative The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...
politician, serving from 2015 to 2016 and again since re-elected in 2021 as the
Member of the Senedd A Member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; cy, Aelodau o'r Senedd; , plural:) (AS)., group=la is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd ...
for South Wales West. He is also a retired consultant
orthopaedic surgeon Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...
. Prior to dissolution of the fourth assembly, he sat on the Health Committee at the National Assembly for Wales, and was Shadow Minister for Social Services. He was defeated in the 2016 Welsh Assembly elections. In 2017 he was elected to
Bridgend County Borough Council Bridgend County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr) is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History Bridgend County Borough and Bridgend County Borough Council came ...
. In January 2018 appointed as Chair of the Brynawel Rehab Board of Trustees UK.


Early life and education

Born in
Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
, India, and in 1982 was awarded a second Master of Surgery degree, in
Orthopaedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...
, by the
University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
.


Medical career

Hussain was an orthopaedic surgeon for
NHS Wales NHS Wales ( cy, GIG (Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol) Cymru) is the publicly-funded healthcare system in Wales, and one of the four systems which make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. NHS Wales was formed as part of the public ...
before his selection as a
Welsh Conservative The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...
Assembly candidate. He was based at the
Prince Charles Hospital Prince Charles Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty'r Tywysog Siarl) is a district general hospital in Gurnos, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. It is managed by the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. History Construction of the first phase of the new hospital be ...
in
Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...
. As a surgeon, his work in developing the Notch Trial method in total
knee replacement surgery Knee replacement, also known as knee arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace the weight-bearing surfaces of the knee joint to relieve pain and disability, most commonly offered when joint pain is not diminished by conservative sources a ...
was showcased at the World Orthopaedic Conference in November 2013. He also pioneered teaching the thumb index reference technique in
total hip replacement Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement or ...
when instructing trainee surgeons. He is a recipient of the Best Practice Team Award 2007 and the
Glory of India Award The India International Friendship Society (IIFS) is a private voluntary organisation based in New Delhi, India. Its stated aim is to strengthen the ties between India and its expatriate community in the hope of using the resources and potential o ...
2008. Hussain has worked extensively in his native Kashmir to improve access to healthcare in what he calls 'peripheral areas' and worked closely with the
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
,
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...
in this area. Hussain's obituary of Sayeed and his account of their professional involvement together was published in the newspapers ''
Greater Kashmir ''Greater Kashmir'' is an English daily newspaper printed and published from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir . The newspaper initially began its edition in 1987 as a weekly newspaper and later, started its first daily publicat ...
'' and ''Rising Kashmir''. He remains active in orthopaedic research and continues to deliver lectures on a 'pro bono' basis. In September 2016-September 2017 Hussain was appointed a trustee of Age Cymru Swansea Bay.


Political life

Hussain has been a supporter of the UK Conservative Party since the 1980s, and has held several offices in the Welsh Conservative Party, including
Deputy Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of Bridgend Conservative Association – of which he has been an active member since 2009. Altaf has served on the Board of the Welsh Conservative Party since 2012, when he was elected as chairman for the South Wales West Area. In the
2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Loca ...
Hussain stood for the
Welsh Conservative The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...
s in the Swansea East constituency. Having fought the
2011 National Assembly for Wales election Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...
as a list candidate in South Wales West, Hussain succeeded
Byron Davies Henry Byron Davies, Baron Davies of Gower (born 4 September 1952) is a Conservative Party politician and life peer. He has been serving as a Lord in Waiting since September 2022. Early life and career Byron Davies was born in Port Eynon, Gower ...
as an AM in 2015 following Byron Davies' election to Westminster. In 2015 Hussain was reselected by the Welsh Conservative Party as a regional candidate for South Wales West, but was unsuccessful in the 2016 Welsh Assembly elections. He has served as a community councillor in
Pen-y-fai, Bridgend Pen-y-fai is a village in the county borough of Bridgend (county borough), Bridgend Wales within the Bridgend electoral ward area and the community of Newcastle Higher. The ward population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was ...
since 2011 and is a governor of
Aberkenfig Aberkenfig ( cy, Abercynffig, meaning "mouth of the Kenfig" (stream)) is a village located in the Bridgend (county borough), County Borough of Bridgend, Wales to the north of Bridgend town. It is in the Community (Wales), community of Newcastle H ...
Catholic School. Hussain was elected as the Welsh Conservative Councillor for Penyfai in the 2017 local government election for Bridgend County Borough Council. He has lived in the ward has lived for many years. Hussain was re-elected to the Senedd at the 2021 election, from the regional list for the South West Wales region.


Issues and campaigns

As an Assembly Member, Hussain has campaigned on a number of local and national issues. He has worked with St John Cymru Wales to further their goal of having a 'first aider on every street', running community
first responder A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, disaster, medical emergency, structure fire, crime, or terr ...
training sessions in Swansea as well as working to help bring their
cycle responder A cycle responder is a medically trained responder, such as a paramedic or first aider that uses a bicycle to respond to a medical emergency. They are used by professional ambulance services to respond to emergency calls and also by private and vol ...
unit project that has been successfully piloted in Cardiff further west to Swansea and Bridgend. He has also campaigned for all schools in Wales to have
defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...
s. Hussain has been a strong proponent of improving town centres and reducing unoccupancy rates, speaking out about problems with the road layout of Swansea's Kingsway prior to the council making changes. He has argued in the local press for lower business rates, better parking facilities and against the closure of public toilet facilities. In February 2016 Hussain was criticised by Swansea City Council for calling for the county's education budget to be protected in the latest budget. He has also taken a close interest on the impact of energy policy on local communities and presented evidence to the public inquiry into the proposed land exchange deal that would allow for the construction of a wind farm at the Mynydd-y-Gwair site near
Felindre Felindre is a rural village in southern Wales. Felindre is located in the far north of Swansea, in the electoral ward of Mawr. The nearby Lower Lliw Reservoirs are a popular venue for walking and fishing. The water mill in the village was workin ...
in the north of Swansea, to which he had formally objected. He has also sought clarity from the
Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...
on its policy on underground coal bed gasification and has supported local campaigns against exploratory drilling. Hussain has been a supporter of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon proposal but has argued that an appropriate
strike price In finance, the strike price (or exercise price) of an option is a fixed price at which the owner of the option can buy (in the case of a call), or sell (in the case of a put), the underlying security or commodity. The strike price may be set b ...
must be agreed first and the project should not be rushed. Hussain regularly speaks on matters related to health and social care, campaigning for pro-active 'stay at home assessments' to be offered to anyone so wanting one upon reaching retirement age which he argues will reduce delays in the transfer of patient care from the hospital to the home care setting and will enable older people to remain for longer in their own homes. He has chaired a number of seminars relating to Health and Social Care policy with the Institute of Welsh Affairs and Policy Forum for Wales, of which he is a patron. In March 2016 Hussain announced the new Welsh Conservative policy of capping care home costs and protecting a minimum level of assets for anyone needing residential care at the party's annual conference as part of an integrated approach to Health and Social Care policy by the party. In January 2016 he was asked to apologise by the First Minister for suggesting that poor standards in Welsh schools were acting as a deterrent to doctors considering moving to Wales but refused, saying that this was a concerned highlighted by bodies representing senior doctors and demanding instead an apology from the First Minister for his government 'taking its eye off the ball' in what became a heated row. He also called for the new system of measuring ambulance response times in Wales to be scrapped, arguing that they produce incomplete data. Hussain has spoken out to highlight his opposition to the proposed 'sugar tax' and as to whether locum doctors' earnings in Wales should be subject to a cap. He has also expressed his concern about the high levels of anti-depressant prescription by GPs in Wales and called for improved access to
talking therapies Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
. Having written a detailed article about winter pressures in the Welsh NHS in December 2016 for
South Wales Evening Post The ''South Wales Evening Post'' is a tabloid daily newspaper distributed in the South West region of Wales. The paper has three daily editions – Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire – and is published by Media Wales, part ...
. The newspaper cited his article in calling for a mature and evidence-driven debate on health as one of '20 things we want to see in Swansea in 2016'. He campaigned against the closure of more hospital beds in the
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) ( cy, Bwrdd lechyd Prifysgol Bae Abertawe) is the local health board of NHS Wales for Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, in the south-west of Wales. Established as Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Healt ...
area. His other campaigns have included ensuring that communities in
Porthcawl Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the So ...
are properly protected by the Welsh Government's proposed Shoreline Management Plan, calling for improved classroom access to services for children with
autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
and moderate learning difficulties and facilitating more frequent bus services to communities in
Gower Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...
. Hussain has argued that the committee structure of the Welsh Assembly should be strengthened to make the Welsh Government more accountable to AMs as well as for greater media coverage of proceedings in the Chamber. Following the announcement in March 2016 that
Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...
was to sell its UK operation, Hussain was amongst a number of elected politicians who argued that the UK government would be right to take a partial stake in the
Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...
plant in order to ensure its survival. In June 2016, Hussain organised a public debate on the forthcoming
EU Referendum This is a list of referendums related to the European Union, or referendums related to the European Communities, which were predecessors of the European Union. Since 1972, a total of 48 referendums have been held by EU member states, candidate st ...
along with former
Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...
Welsh Assembly candidate David Jenkins, inviting speakers from both sides to present their arguments at
Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...
. In January 2022, Hussain was noted for criticising his own party's leader, Prime Minister
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
, citing that he had lost the trust of the public.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussain, Altaf Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Conservative Party members of the Senedd Wales MSs 2021–2026 Wales AMs 2011–2016 British politicians of Indian descent Indian emigrants to Wales People from Srinagar Welsh people of Kashmiri descent