Jeremy Miles MS is a Welsh

Labour and Co-operative Party 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 ...

politician, serving as Minister for Education and Minister for the Welsh Language in the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

since 2021. Miles has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Neath since 2016. He previously served in the

as Counsel General for Wales from 2017 to 2021, Brexit Minister from 2018 to 2021, and the Minister for coordinating Wales’ recovery from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

from 2020 to 2021.

Early life

He was born and brought up in

Pontarddulais Pontarddulais (), also known as Pontardulais (), is both a community and a town in Swansea, Wales. It is northwest of the city centre. The Pontarddulais ward is part of the City and County of Swansea. Pontarddulais adjoins the village of Hendy ...

near Swansea, south Wales and, as a native Welsh speaker, was educated at a bilingual comprehensive school – Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera in the Swansea Valley. He graduated from New College,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, where he read law. After graduating, he taught law at the Centre for English Legal Studies, Warsaw University. He returned to the UK and practised as a solicitor in London initially, and then held senior legal and commercial posts in media sector businesses including ITV and with the US television network and film studio, NBC Universal, based in London. He stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate in the safe Conservative seat of Beaconsfield at the 2010 general election. Miles also stood in the Labour selection for Aberavon in 2014, losing the selection to Stephen Kinnock by one vote. After returning to live in South Wales, he set up his own business affairs consultancy, working with international clients in the broadcast and digital sectors.

Political career

Member of the Senedd for Neath

Following the announcement by Gwenda Thomas, the then-Assembly Member for Neath, that she was planning to stand down at the

2016 National Assembly for Wales election Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

, he was selected to stand as the Labour and Co-operative candidate in Neath constituency in October 2015, following a twinned selection process with Gower constituency. He was until his selection as the candidate for Neath a trustee and secretary of the social justice charity the Bevan Foundation. He was elected to the Senedd in May 2016 and was one of the first out gay MSs elected. In November 2017, he was nominated to be the Counsel General for Wales. Before his appointment to government, he sat on the Economy, Skills and Infrastructure committee, Culture, Welsh Language and Communications committee and the External Affairs committee and is the chair of the Co-operative group of AMs.

Counsel General for Wales (2017-2021)

In November 2017, First Minister of Wales

Carwyn Jones Carwyn Howell Jones (born 21 March 1967) is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2009 to 2018. He served as Counsel General for Wales from 2007 to 2009. Jones served as the Member of the S ...

undertook a

reshuffle. Miles was nominated to the cabinet-level role of Counsel General. In March 2018, he introduced draft legislation that would create a codified

statute book The Statute Book is "the surviving body of enacted legislation published by authority" in "a number of publications". In England at the end of 1948, the Statute Book printed by authority consisted of the twenty-four volumes of ''The Statutes: Se ...

Welsh law Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 20 ...

, which would make Wales the first of the home nations to organise its laws in this way. The statute book would be designed to improve accessibility to Welsh Law for both lawyers and the general population.

In the news

In August 2016, he warned that public disillusionment with politics could threaten devolution in Wales. He expanded on this in an essay for Western Mail where he warned "if we assume the only choice is between complacency and immediate disaster, then we will fail to learn the lessons of Brexit". In 2016, he entered the Pinc List: The 40 most influential lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Wales for the first time. and was named again on the 2017 Pinc List. In March 2018, he wrote an article for the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

in Wales, setting out challenges for the country and seeking to kick-start a debate on the future of

Welsh Labour 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 ...

under a new leader. Soon after, he nominated and endorsed Mark Drakeford in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to succeed

as Party leader and First Minister.

Other activities

Miles is a member of the

Co-operative Party The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fair ...

and was elected chair of the Co-operative Group of Senedd Members in 2016. He is also a member of the GMB and Unite trade unions. Prior to being elected, he had volunteered as a youth mentor with the Young Foundation, and also as an adviser at free legal advice centres. He was an adviser to the Use Your Vote campaign for the 2010 UK general election. He claims his political interests include economic and community development, skills, co-ops and mutuals. He lives in Alltwen and enjoys film, reading, cooking, hiking and cycling and following local rugby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Jeremy Members of the Welsh Assembly Government Living people Politicians from Swansea LGBT members of the Senedd Gay politicians Welsh-speaking politicians Wales MSs 2016–2021 Wales MSs 2021–2026 Year of birth missing (living people)