James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig (born 5 December 1947), known as Don Touhig, is a British politician and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Islwyn from 1995 to 2010. A member of the

Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an e ...

parties, he served in government as an Assistant

Whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

from 1999 to 2001 and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2001 to 2006.

Early life

He went to St Francis RC School in

Abersychan Abersychan is a town and community (Wales), community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the Monmouthshire (historic), historic county of Monmouthshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county o ...

near

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

, then the Mid Gwent College (now Coleg Gwent) in Pontypool. Before entering parliament, he had been a journalist from 1968 to 1976. From 1976 to 1990, he was the Editor of the Free Press of Monmouthshire (Monmouth Free Press). From 1988 to 1992, he was the general manager and Editor-in-Chief of the Free Press Group of newspapers. He was the general manager (business development) of the Bailey Group from 1992 to 1993, then of Bailey Print from 1993 to 1995. He served on

Gwent County Council Gwent County Council () was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbran. H ...

from 1973 to 1995. He joined the

TGWU The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland—where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU)—with 900,000 members (a ...

in 1962 and the Labour Party in 1966.

Parliamentary career

House of Commons

Touhig contested the Richmond and Barnes constituency at the 1992 general election, but reached third-place behind the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and Liberal Democrat candidates. Following the resignation of

Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...

, former

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

and Leader of the Labour Party, he was elected to succeed him as MP for Islwyn at the by-election on 16 February 1995. From 1996 to 1997, Touhig was a Member of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

, then

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

, from May 1997 to July 1999. He had to resign as PPS in 1999, when he confessed to receiving a leaked Social Security Select Committee report on

Child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adult (psychology), young adults. Countries operate different versions of the benefi ...

. He was later suspended for three days from the Commons. He was appointed to serve as an Assistant

from November 1999 to June 2001. He was a junior minister at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, with special responsibility for veterans, but left government in the May 2006 reshuffle. He was made a Member of the Privy Council on 19 July 2006. In Paul Flynn's 1999 book ''Dragons and Poodles'', he was described as being the "seamstress-in-chief of stitch ups", that he could be "ambitious" and "can be pompous". On 29 January 2010, Touhig announced that he would stand down at the 2010 General Election.

House of Lords

On 28 June 2010, Touhig was made a

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as Baron Touhig, of Islwyn and Glansychan in the County of Gwent. He was appointed to the opposition front bench as a

and Shadow Spokesperson for Defence in September 2015, serving as a Whip until September 2016 and a Defence Spokesperson until October 2017. He returned to the defence brief from April 2020 to May 2021.

Personal life

Touhig was married on 21 September 1968 to Jennifer Hughes. She died in 2014 from cancer, aged 67. They have two sons and two daughters.

Honours

He is a papal knight of the Order of Saint Sylvester (KSS).

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Don Touhig MP

Voting record at the Public Whip

TheyWorkForYou.com – Don Touhig MP

BBC Politics page

Blake's Parliamentary Yearbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Touhig, Don 1947 births Living people Labour Co-operative MPs for Welsh constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Welsh Roman Catholics UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Welsh Labour councillors Labour Co-operative life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II