Julie James MS (born February 1958) is a

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 ...

politician, serving as

Minister for Climate Change A list of ministers of climate change or officials in charge of cabinet positions with portfolios dealing primarily with climate change and issues related to mitigation of global warming. A Australia Austria B Belgium C Canada D Denm ...

since 2021. James has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Swansea West since 2011. She served as

Minister for Housing and Local Government The Minister for Local Government () is a cabinet position in the Welsh Government which has existed in various forms since the creation of the Welsh Government. The office is currently held by the Minister for Finance Rebecca Evans MS. In th ...

from 2018 to 2021.

Early life

James was born in Swansea, and was raised in various places around the world with her family. Her parents had married young, and they did not have more children until she was 8. Her sister, 8 years younger, lives in Swansea and her brother, 13 years younger, is the musician Richard D James (known as Aphex Twin). At the age of sixteen she joined the Labour Party and was the first of her family to study at university.

Professional career

James first studied American Studies & History at

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 , ...

, graduating in 1980. She then studied law at the Polytechnic of Central London, graduating in 1982, then went on to the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is one of the five schools of City, University of London. In 2001, the Inns of Court School of Law became part of City, and is now known as the City Law School. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar ...

in London to train as a barrister, passing the bar in 1983. Her career started working as a policy lawyer with the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

. She then moved back to Swansea to raise her three children and start work for

West Glamorgan County Council West Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gorllewin Morgannwg) was the county council of the county of West Glamorgan in south-west Wales, from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. History The county was created in 1974 under the ...

as the Assistant County Secretary (Legal Services). James later worked for the

City and County of Swansea Council , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by = West Glamorgan County CouncilSw ...

, where her final post was Assistant Chief Executive (Governance). She left in protest at the signing of a contract by the Liberal Democrats which she thought to have wasted "millions of pounds". She went on to join the law practice Clarkslegal LLP, specialising in environmental and constitutional law.

Political career

On 5 May 2011, James was elected as Assembly Member representing Swansea West. She sat on several committees, including the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, Enterprise and Business Committee and Environment and Sustainability Committee. She has chaired the procurement and common fisheries task and finish groups. On 11 September 2014, she was appointed Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology during a reshuffle by

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 ...

, replacing

Ken Skates Kenneth Christian Skates MS (born 2 April 1976) is a Welsh Labour politician. Skates has represented the constituency of Clwyd South in the Senedd since the election of 2011. He is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge, and worked as a j ...

who was appointed Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism. On 5 May 2016, James was re-elected as the Assembly Member for Swansea West by a higher majority than her previous term and was tipped at the time to be a likely candidate for a cabinet position. On 3 November 2017, she was promoted to the Cabinet as Leader of the House & Chief Whip. On 13 December 2018, following the election of Mark Drakeford to the position of leader of Welsh Labour and therefore First Minister, James was appointed Minister for Housing and Local Government.

References

External links

National Assembly for Wales

Political office website

Election campaign website

Welsh Labour profile

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Julie 1957 births Living people Welsh Labour members of the Senedd Wales AMs 2011–2016 Wales MSs 2021–2026 Politicians from Swansea