Paul Murphy (politician)

Infobox Minister
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name = Paul Murphy
honorific-suffix =MP

---

caption = Paul Murphy (centre) with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Ambassador David Manning, President George W. Bush & Ambassador Mitchell Reiss at the St. Patrick's Day celebrations at the White House in 2005.
title = Secretary of State for Wales
primeminister = Gordon Brown
predecessor = Peter Hain
term_start = 24 January 2008
primeminister2 = Tony Blair
predecessor2= Alun Michael
successor2=Peter Hain
term_start2=28 July 1999
term_end2=24 October 2002
title3=Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
primeminister3=Tony Blair
predecessor3=John Reid
successor3=Peter Hain
term_start3=24 October 2002
term_end3=6 May 2005
constituency_MP4 = Torfaen
parliament4 =
majority4 = 14,791 (41.1%)
predecessor4 = Leo Abse
successor4 = Incumbent
term_start4 = 11 June 1987
term_end4 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1948|11|25|df=yes
birth_place = Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Oriel College, Oxford
occupation =
profession =
religion = Roman Catholic


website =
footnotes =

Paul Peter Murphy (born 25 November 1948) is a British politician. He is Member of Parliament for Torfaen representing the Labour Party. He is currently the Secretary of State for Wales.

Education and background

Murphy attended St Francis Roman Catholic School in Abersychan, West Monmouth School in Pontypool and Oriel College, Oxford. His leisure interests include classical music and cooking.

He was a management trainee with the CWS, before becoming a lecturer in Government and History at Ebbw Vale College of Further Education, now known as Coleg Gwent.

He is a practising Roman CatholicFact|date=May 2008. He was made a Knight Commander of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George "for helping to promote peace in Northern Ireland".

He is an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College in 2000. He is also a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow of St. Antony's College, Oxford.

Early political career

Murphy joined the Labour Party at the age of 15. He is also a member of the Transport and General Workers Union. He was Secretary of the Pontypool/Torfaen Constituency Labour Party from 1971 to 1987. Paul was a member of Torfaen Council from 1973 to 1987 and was Chair of its Finance Committee from 1976 to 1986. He contested Wells (UK Parliament constituency)
Wells Constituency in Somerset in the 1979 General Election.

enior Cabinet posts

He has been MP for Torfaen, Wales since the 1987 election, and is Secretary of State for Wales. In opposition he served as a foreign affairs spokesperson and then in defence as navy spokesperson.

He was appointed Secretary of State for Wales on 28 July 1999. He was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 24 October 2002 to 5 May 2005. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1999.

He was succeeded by Peter Hain and left the government, becoming chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee in May 2005. He was also British Chair of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body and an Executive Committee member of the British-American Parliamentary Group.

He was re-appointed Secretary of State for Wales on 24 January 2008, following the resignation of Peter Hain. He was also given the job of chairing a new Cabinet Committee on the sensitive issue of IT and information security, in the wake of a rash of scandals surrounding the loss of personal data by Government agencies. In April 2008 he was appointed as the Government's Minister for Digital Inclusion.

Prior to joining the Cabinet he was Minister of State for political development in the Northern Ireland Office from 1997 to 1999 - acting as Mo Mowlam's deputy - and was largely responsible for negotiating the so-called strand two ('North-South' or 'Island of Ireland') arrangements agreed in the Good Friday Agreement. In 1999, he was named 'Minister to Watch' at the Spectator Parliamentary Awards.

Voting Record

In a free parliamentary vote on 20 May 2008, Paul Murphy voted for cutting the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 12 weeks, along with two other Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly and Des Browne. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7409696.stm "BBC News: MPs back 24-week abortion limit"] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.paulmurphymp.co.uk/ Paul Murphy MP's official site]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3798,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Paul Murphy MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/paul_murphy/torfaen TheyWorkForYou.com - Paul Murphy MP]

Offices held