Peter Hain
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Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
from 2005 to 2007,
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the busin ...
from 2007 to 2008 and twice as
Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...
from 2002 to 2008 and from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he was
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 o ...
(MP) for
Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historica ...
between
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
and
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
. Born in
Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...
to South African parents, Hain came to the United Kingdom from South Africa as a teenager and was a noted anti-fascist and anti-
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
campaigner in the 1970s, and was convicted of criminal conspiracy for leading direct action events. Elected to Parliament at a 1991 by-election, he initially served in
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...
's government as a junior minister in the Wales Office,
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...
and Department of Trade and Industry. Promoted to the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
as Welsh Secretary in 2002, he served concurrently as
Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
from 2003 to 2005 and
Northern Ireland Secretary Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...
from 2005 to 2007. Hain ran for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party in the 2007 deputy leadership election, coming fifth out of six candidates. He was promoted to
Work and Pensions Secretary The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and ...
by new leader
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 from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...
, while remaining Welsh Secretary. His failure to declare donations during the deputy leadership contest led to his resignation from both roles in 2008. He later returned to the Cabinet from 2009 to 2010 as Welsh Secretary. After Labour was defeated at the 2010 general election, Hain was
Shadow Welsh Secretary The Shadow Secretary of State for Wales or Shadow Welsh Secretary is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Wales and his/her department, the Wales Office. The incumbent holder of the office i ...
in the Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband from 2010 until 2012, when he announced his retirement from frontline politics. He announced in June 2014 he would stand down as MP for Neath at the 2015 general election and was subsequently nominated for a
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 ...
age in the
2015 Dissolution Honours The 2015 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 27 August 2015 upon the advice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron. The Life Peerages were announced separately from the other appointments, while it was gazetted as a single list on 22 September 2 ...
.


Early life

Whilst his father was working temporarily there, Hain was born in Nairobi in what was then
Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...
, but he moved to the
Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tr ...
when his parents returned about a year later. His South African parents, Walter Vannet Hain and Adelaine Hain (''née'' Stocks), were anti-apartheid activists in the
Liberal Party of South Africa The Liberal Party of South Africa was a South African political party from 1953 to 1968. Founding The party was founded on 9 May 1953 at a meeting of the South African Liberal Association in Cape Town. Essentially it grew out of a belief that ...
, for which they were made "banned persons", briefly imprisoned, and prevented from working. Hain's paternal grandparents, civil engineer Walter Vannet Hain of Dundee, and Mary Hain née Gavin of Glasgow, married in 1919, leaving Shettleston,
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
, on 17 September 1920 on the ''
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
'' with their newborn baby William Ayers Vannet Hain, sailing from Southampton to South Africa. Hain's father, later to become an architect, was born there on 29 December 1924. Hain's maternal grandparents were of 1820 Settler British South African stock. His 4th great-grandfather was George Southey (1776–1831) who hailed from
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
. Hain descends from his daughter, Sophia Stirk (''née'' Southey), whose brother George helped to track and kill the Xhosa tribal chief
Hintsa kaKhawuta Hintsa ka Khawuta (1780 – 12 May 1835), also known as ''Great'' or ''King Hintsa'', was the king of the Xhosa Kingdom, founded by his great ancestor, King Tshawe. He ruled from 1820 until his death in 1835. The Xhosa Kingdom, at its peak, durin ...
(ca. 1790 – 1835). A brother of Sophia and George Southey was Sir Richard Southey, a British colonial administrator, cabinet minister and landowner in South Africa. When Hain was 10, he was awoken in the early hours by police officers searching his bedroom for 'incriminating documents'. Aged 11 he was again awoken to be told his parents had been imprisoned for leafleting in support of
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...
's campaign; they were released without charge after fourteen days' detention. At 15, Hain spoke at the funeral of John Frederick Harris, an anti-apartheid activist who was hanged for murder for the bombing of the Johannesburg main railway station, injuring 23 people and killing an elderly woman, Mrs Ethyl Rhys. Mrs Rhys's granddaughter suffered severe burns. Hain and his parents strongly opposed the bombing but stood by Harris and his wife Ann and baby son David, family friends. As a result of security police harassment, Hain's father was unable to continue his work as an architect, and the family deprived of an income was forced to leave for the United Kingdom in 1966.


Life in South Africa and London

Hain was educated in South Africa at Hatfield Primary School and
Pretoria Boys High School , motto_translation = "Through courage and labour" , location = , streetaddress = 251 Roper Street, Brooklyn , region = , city = Pretoria , province ...
and in London at
Emanuel School Emanuel School is an independent, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ra ...
, a state school, later becoming a private fee-paying institution, then Queen Mary College, University of London, graduating with a first class
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
in Economics and
Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
in 1973, and the
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
, obtaining an MPhil. After university, Hain worked as a researcher for the
Union of Communication Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the mer ...
from September 1976, later rising to become their head of research. During this time, Hain wrote several articles that harshly criticised Israel, including a 1976 piece in ''The Guardian'' newspaper where he stated that Israel needed to be dismantled to make way for a secular, democratic Palestinian state.


Anti-apartheid activism

Having joined the British
Anti-Apartheid Movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-White population who were persecuted by the policie ...
at aged 17 in 1967, when Hain was 19 he became chairman of the ''Stop The '70 Tour'' campaign which disrupted tours by the South African
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
and
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
teams in 1969 and 1970. In 1971 director John Goldschmidt produced a film for
Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...
's ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'' programme featuring Hain debating "Apartheid in South Africa" at the
Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
. The film was transmitted on the ITV network. In 1972 a private prosecution resulted in his conviction for
criminal conspiracy In criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime at some time in the future. Criminal law in some countries or for some conspiracies may require that at least one overt act be undertaken in furtherance ...
at the
Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
for which he was fined £200. The prosecution was funded largely from apartheid-supporting whites in South Africa due to his campaign against white-only South African sports tours. He was acquitted of three other conspiracy counts after defending himself in the four week trial described in the book edited by
Derek Humphry Derek Humphry (born 29 April 1930) is a British-born American journalist and author notable as a proponent of legal assisted suicide and the right to die. In 1980, he co-founded the Hemlock Society and, in 2004, after that organization dissolv ...
, ''Cricket Conspiracy'' (1975, ). In 1972, the South African Security Services were suspected of sending him a letter bomb that failed to explode because of faulty wiring. In 1976 Hain was tried for, and acquitted of, a 1975 bank theft, having been framed by the South African
Bureau of State Security The Bureau for State Security ( af, Buro vir Staatsveiligheid; also known as the Bureau of State Security (BOSS)) was the main South African state intelligence agency from 1969 to 1980. A high-budget and secretive institution, it reported directly ...
(BOSS) according to his 1987 book, ''A Putney Plot''.


Joining the Liberal and Labour Parties

In 1968, he joined the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
and was elected chairperson in 1971 and then in 1975 president of the Young Liberals, but in 1977 switched to Labour. The same year, he was a founder of the
Anti-Nazi League The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups i ...
.


Homosexual equality

In the 1970s, Hain was also Honorary Vice-president of the
Campaign for Homosexual Equality The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom with a stated aim from 1969 to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales. Active throughout the 1970s ...
when he clashed with lobbying interests from the
Paedophile Information Exchange The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) was a British pro- paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984.Tom de Castella & Tom Heyde"How did the pro-paedophile group PIE exist openly for 10 years?" BBC Ne ...
(PIE).


Member of Parliament

He contested
Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...
in the
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, ...
general elections but was defeated on both occasions by Conservative David Mellor. Having already been selected as Labour's candidate for the Neath constituency at the 1992 general election, Hain was elected to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
at the by-election in April 1991 that followed the death of the sitting member,
Donald Coleman Donald Richard Coleman, CBE, JP, DL (19 September 1925 – 14 January 1991) was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom for Neath from 1964 until his death in 1991. Early life Coleman was born in Barry, the son of a coa ...
, who had announced his intention to retire at the next election. In 1995 he became a Labour
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 ...
and in 1996 became a shadow employment minister.


In government

After Labour's victory in the 1997 general election he joined the government, first at the
Welsh Office The Welsh Office ( cy, Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State f ...
1997–1999, then as minister of state at the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
from 1999 to 2001 with responsibility for Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. In November 1999, as Africa minister he met
Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...
in London; Mugabe told him "I know you are not one of them, Peter; you are one of us," But the following day, following an attempt by
Gay Rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , ...
campaigner
Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...
to carry out a '
citizen's arrest A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – that is, a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which ...
' on Mugabe, Mugabe accused Hain of being Tatchell's "wife". In October 2000 he set up a war avoidance team to carry messages back and forth between himself and the then-Minister of Foreign Affairs in
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz ( ar, طارق عزيز , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraqi politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s w ...
(a matter then confidential, which has since been put on public record in an interview with Hain by the ''Today'' programme). Team members who travelled repeatedly to Iraq on behalf of Hain variously included William Morris, Burhan Chalabi (an Iraqi-born British businessman), and Nasser al-Khalifa (the then-Qatari Ambassador to the UK). He voted for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, later when comparing it with other questions on the Labour Party's annual conference agenda, calling it a "fringe issue". However he subsequently described the Iraq invasion as a 'disaster' and explained: 'I believed the evidence shown me on weapons of mass destruction later discovered to be entirely false.' In 2001, Hain moved briefly to the Department of Trade and Industry before returning to the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...
as Minister for Europe, being sworn of the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
the same year. He was vocal in advocating joint sovereignty of
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...
with Spain and was accused of deliberately misrepresenting the situation. The agreement was described by Michael Ancram in the UK Parliament, along with Gibraltar as a 'sell-out' which was overwhelmingly rejected in a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
in November 2002. He remains one of the most unpopular politicians ever to visit Gibraltar. In October 2002, he joined the Cabinet as
Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member ...
, but continued to represent the UK at the Convention on the Future of Europe. In June 2003 he was made
Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of t ...
and
Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, ...
in a cabinet reshuffle, but retained the Wales portfolio. In November 2004 Hain caused controversy among his political rivals when he claimed that "If we are tough on crime and on terrorism, as Labour is, then I think Britain will be safer under Labour". On 6 May 2005, following the 2005 general election, Hain was appointed as
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
by Prime Minister Tony Blair, retaining his Welsh position also. He was responsible for negotiating the settlement which brought former enemies Sinn Féin and the DUP into a power-sharing Northern Irish government from May 2007. Although previously a supporter of Irish unity, he has since retreated from this position. On 28 June 2007, he was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in addition to retaining responsibility for Wales. He was a proponent of the "tough love" measures designed to force claimants, including the sick and disabled, back to work. He saw it as an anti-poverty, full-employment agenda. He resigned from his post when the issue of donations made to his campaign funds were referred to the police. He set a level of compensation for the taxpayer funded Financial Assistance Scheme similar to that of the Industry funded Pension Protection Fund (PPF) for those whose schemes had collapses before the establishment of the PPF. Referring to the long running Pensions Action Group campaign and speaking on the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
''Moneybox'' program on the day compensation was announced, pensions expert
Ros Altmann Rosalind Miriam Altmann, Baroness Altmann, (born 8 April 1956) is a British life peer, leading UK pensions expert, and political campaigner. She was appointed to the House of Lords following the 2015 general election as a Conservative, but de ...
, credited Hain and Mike O'Brien with "having been very different to deal with than their predecessors and..willing and eager to engage and find a way to sort this out."


Deputy leadership bid

On 12 September 2006, he announced his
candidacy Candidacy is a rite which takes place during Roman Catholic seminary formation, by which the Church recognizes the seminarian as worthy of being ordained (hence, they become a "candidate" for ordination to the priesthood). With the liturgical ref ...
for the position of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. In January 2007, Hain gave an interview to the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' in which he made his pitch for the Deputy Leadership and referred to the Bush administration as "the most right-wing American administration, if not ever, then in living memory" and argued that "the neo-con agenda for America has been rejected by the people and I hope that will be the case for the future". Hain was eliminated in the second round of the Deputy Leadership election, coming fifth out of the six candidates, with
Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...
being the successful candidate.


Resignation following Labour party deputy leadership donations scandal

In January 2008, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' reported that Hain had failed to declare some 20 donations worth a total of over £100,000 during his deputy leadership campaign and would be investigated by the Electoral Commission. Hain admitted "deeply regrettable administrative failings" but faced questioning on whether the oversight was due to changes in campaign manager possibly causing "chaos" during the campaign or the desire of some donors to remain private. Phil Taylor, the first campaign manager, said that Hain insisted on knowing who had donated and that it was legal. His campaign only reported a separate £82,000 of donations and ''The Guardian'' believes he stopped taking a personal interest in funding once the campaign ended though there was no evidence that he deliberately broke the law. Taylor's successor was Steve Morgan, and it later emerged that four donations were channelled through a non-operating think tank, the Progressive Policies Forum (PPF) which may be connected with Morgan, who was named as a donor. On 12 January, Peter Hain released a statement saying that he wanted to get on with his job and it was absurd to think he had deliberately hidden anything. John Underwood, a trustee of the PPF, said that the donations and loans were "entirely permissible", though Hain said he would pay back a £25,000 interest-free loan. On 24 January 2008, he resigned from several posts including his position as Work and Pensions secretary, after the Electoral Commission referred the failure to report donations to
Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
. He cited a desire to "clear his name" as the reason for his resignation. Peter Hain was the first person to resign from Gordon Brown's cabinet. He was replaced as Secretary of State for Wales by Paul Murphy, and as Secretary for Work and Pensions by James Purnell in a forced
cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in par ...
. Hain's campaign had properly declared some £100,000 of donations but failed to declare £103,156 of donations, contrary to electoral law. On 3 July 2008, the Metropolitan Police announced that they had referred Peter Hain's case to the
Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advi ...
. On 5 December 2008 the CPS announced that Hain would not be charged because Hain was not responsible and did not control the members' association ''Hain4Labour'' that funded his campaign. He returned to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales the following year.


In opposition

Hain was re-appointed
Shadow Welsh Secretary The Shadow Secretary of State for Wales or Shadow Welsh Secretary is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Wales and his/her department, the Wales Office. The incumbent holder of the office i ...
in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet after Miliband's election as leader in 2010. He was a supporter of the unsuccessful Alternative Vote system in the May 2011 referendum. In May 2012, he announced his retirement from front-line politics.


Attempted prosecution for contempt of court

On 27 March 2012, the
Attorney General for Northern Ireland The Attorney General for Northern Ireland is the chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Attorney General for Northern Ire ...
, John Larkin QC obtained leave from Lord Justice Higgins to bring proceedings against Hain and "Biteback Publishing" for
contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
. Although Hain's book ''Outside In'' had already been passed by the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office prior to publication, the alleged contempt related to statements about Lord Justice Girvan's disposal of an application for judicial review while Hain was Secretary of State. Hain's remarks had previously been strongly criticised by the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Sir Declan Morgan though the decision to charge Hain with "scandalising the court", using a law already obsolete in 1899 drew ridicule in Westminster and strong criticism from senior DUP ministers. According to the Attorney General, Hain's statements prejudiced the administration of justice and amounted to an unjustifiable attack on the judiciary. At a preliminary hearing before a
Divisional Court A divisional court, in relation to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, means a court sitting with at least two judges.Section 66, Senior Courts Act 1981. Matters heard by a divisional court include some criminal cases in the High Court ...
of the
Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...
of the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...
on 24 April 2012, Hain's counsel suggested that the action had no basis in
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
and was contrary to the
European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...
. The trial was intended to take place on 19 June 2012 but the case was dropped on 17 May 2012 after Hain agreed to clarify comments to show he didn't question Girvan's motives or his handling of the judicial review.


House of Lords

In June 2014, Hain announced he would stand down as the MP for Neath at the 2015 general election. He was nominated for a
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 ...
age in the
2015 Dissolution Honours The 2015 Dissolution Honours List was issued on 27 August 2015 upon the advice of the Prime Minister, David Cameron. The Life Peerages were announced separately from the other appointments, while it was gazetted as a single list on 22 September 2 ...
. Writing in the ''Guardian'', he subsequently outlined his views on House of Lords reform. He was created a
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 ...
taking the title Baron Hain, ''of
Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historica ...
in the County of West Glamorgan'', on 22 October 2015. He is a member of
Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
. He remains a prominent supporter of
Unite Against Fascism Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is a British anti-fascist group. Its joint secretaries are Weyman Bennett and Sabby Dhalu, formerly of the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR). Its chair is Steve Hart of Unite the Union and its assistant secre ...
today and is vice-president of Action for Southern Africa. On 25 October 2018, he used
parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...
in the House of Lords to name Sir
Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of M ...
as the businessman accused of sexual and racial harassment by
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
. A legal
injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...
had prevented the newspaper from naming him. Following Hain's statement, the accusations made against Green were widely published in the media. Hain is a remunerated adviser to the law firm acting for the alleged victims, and Green subsequently announced that, due to this conflict of interest, he would lodge a complaint with the House of Lords. Hain is a member of the Steering Committee of the Constitution Reform Group (CRG), a cross-party organisation chaired by
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, Baron Gascoyne-Cecil, (born 30 September 1946), is a British Conservative politician. From 1979 to 1987 he represented South Dorset in the House of Commons, and in the 1990s he w ...
, which seeks a new constitutional settlement in the UK by way of a new Act of Union. The Constitution Reform Group's new Act of Union Bill was introduced as a
Private Member's Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...
by Lord Lisvane in 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 Westminst ...
on 9 October 2018, when it received a formal first reading. The Bill has been described by the BBC as "one to watch" in the current Parliament.


Political thought

Hain has written in support of
libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism, also known by various other names, is a left-wing,Diemer, Ulli (1997)"What Is Libertarian Socialism?" The Anarchist Library. Retrieved 4 August 2019. anti-authoritarian, anti-statist and libertarianLong, Roderick T. (20 ...
arguments,Hain, Peter (July/August 2000)
"Rediscovering our libertarian roots"
''Chartist''. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
identifying an axis involving a "bottom-up vision of socialism, with anarchists at the
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...
end and
democratic socialists Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
uch as himself Uch ( pa, ; ur, ), frequently referred to as Uch Sharīf ( pa, ; ur, ; ''"Noble Uch"''), is a historic city in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province. Uch may have been founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexand ...
at its
reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...
end" as opposed to the axis of
state socialism State socialism is a political and economic ideology within the socialist movement that advocates state ownership of the means of production. This is intended either as a temporary measure, or as a characteristic of socialism in the transition ...
with Marxist–Leninists at the revolutionary end and
social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
at the reformist end. Hain has argued for "encouraging
industrial democracy Industrial democracy is an arrangement which involves workers making decisions, sharing responsibility and authority in the workplace. While in participative management organizational designs workers are listened to and take part in the decisi ...
. This is one of the keys to the high productivity, investment and wealth needed for economic success, by helping generate greater team working and commitment which is such an important requirement of complex modern production systems."


Business and charity interests

The renewed campaign for construction of the
Severn Barrage The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary (and Bristol Channel) have existed since the 19t ...
by Hafren Power was led by Hain in 2012, until Hafren Power wound up in 2014. In May 2013 he joined Amara Mining as non-executive director until its takeover by Perseus Mining in May 2016. On 28 October 2015, Hain was appointed to the Board of AIM listed fertiliser company,
African Potash African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
, as non-executive Director, but resigned in November 2017. He is Global and Governmental Adviser to Gordon Dadds PLC. Since 2014 he has been chair of Trustees of the Donald Woods Foundation, a charity working in the poverty stricken Transkei, Eastern Cape, near Nelson Mandela's homeland. He is also a Trustee of the Listen Charity. In 2016-17 he chaired the OR Tambo Centenary Organising Committee. From 2014 he has been Visiting Professor at the University of South Wales. In September 2016 he was appointed Visiting Professor at Witwatersrand University Business School and in September 2017 was appointed Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School.


Alternative medicine

He is a member of the Advisory Council for the College of Medicine, an
alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and al ...
lobbying organisation set up following the disbanding of
Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
's Foundation for Integrated Health in the wake of a fraud investigation. Describing its mission as "to take forward the vision of HRH the Prince of Wales" and originally called "The College of Integrated Health", several commentators, writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', ''
The British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...
'' and in the
blogosphere The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social networking service in which everyday authors can pu ...
, say this organisation is simply a re-branding of the Foundation. It continues to act as an alternative medicine lobby group. The college has been referred to as "Hamlet without the Prince".


Personal life

Hain lives in Resolven in the Neath Valley. He married his first wife Patricia Western in 1975, and they have two sons. In June 2003, he married his second wife, Welsh businesswoman, Elizabeth Haywood, in Neath Register Office.


Publications

* *''Radical Liberalism and Youth Politics'', Peter Hain, 1973, Liberal Publications Department *''Radical Regeneration'' Peter Hain, 1975, Quartet Books * *''Mistaken Identity: The Wrong Face of the Law'', Peter Hain, 1976, Quartet Books * *''Policing the Police'', edited by Peter Hain, 1979, J Calder * *''Neighbourhood Participation'', Peter Hain, 1980, M. T. Smith *''Policing the Police'', edited by Peter Hain, 1980, J Calder * * * * *''Proportional Misrepresentation'', Peter Hain, 1986, Gower Publishing Ltd * * * * * *''New Designs for Europe'', Katinkya Barysch, Steven Everts, Heather Grabbe et al., introduction by Peter Hain, 2002, Centre for European Reform * *''Outside in'' (autobiography), Biteback (23 January 2012), *''Ad & Wal: values, duty, sacrifice in apartheid South Africa'', Biteback (January 2014), *''Back to the future of socialism'', Policy Press (26 January 2015), *


References


External links


Peter Hain MP
''official constituency website''
Profile
at the
Welsh Labour Party Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...
*
Article archive
in ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' *
Confronting ISIL's Terror Threat
A Public lecture given by Peter Hain fro
USW iTunesU
* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hain, Peter 1950 births Living people Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of the University of Sussex Anti-apartheid activists British agnostics British politicians convicted of crimes British Secretaries of State European democratic socialists Labour Friends of Israel Labour Party (UK) life peers Leaders of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom LGBT rights activists from Wales Liberal Party (UK) politicians Libertarian socialists Life peers created by Elizabeth II Lords Privy Seal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People acquitted of crimes People educated at Emanuel School People from Nairobi People from Northern Ireland of South African descent Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland Secretaries of State for Wales Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions South African emigrants to the United Kingdom UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Welsh Labour Party MPs Welsh people of South African descent Welsh socialists British republicans