Don Touhig


James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig, KSS, known as Don Touhig, is a British Labour Co-operative politician from Wales. He was the Member of Parliament for Islwyn from a 1995 by-election until his retirement in 2010, after which he was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords.

Early life

He went to St Francis RC School in Abersychan near Pontypool, then the Mid Gwent College in Pontypool. Before entering parliament, he had been a journalist from 1968–76. From 1976–90, he was the Editor of the Free Press of Monmouthshire. From 1988–92, he was the general manager and Editor-in-Chief of the Free Press Group of newspapers. He was the general manager of the Bailey Group from 1992–3, then of Bailey Print from 1993–5. He served on Gwent County Council from 1973–95. He joined the TGWU in 1962 and the Labour Party in 1966.

Parliamentary career

House of Commons

Tuhig contested the Richmond and Barnes seat in the 1992 general election, coming third for Labour behind the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. He was subsequently elected to Parliament in a by-election on 16 February 1995, to replace Neil Kinnock, who had resigned. From 1996–7, he was on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. He served as parliamentary private secretary to Gordon Brown and as a whip before becoming a minister. He had to resign in 1999 when he confessed to receiving a leaked Social Security Select Committee report on Child benefit. He was later suspended for three days from the Commons. He was succeeded by John Healey. He was a junior minister at the Ministry of Defence, 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 life peer as Baron Touhig, of Islwyn and Glansychan in the County of Gwent.

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.