Paul Murphy

Paul Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen      (Politician)
Born	25 November 1948 Usk, Wales
Alma mater	Oriel College (Oxford)
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Party	Labour
British Labour Party politician who was Secretary of State for Wales.  Secretary of State for Wales  In office 24 January 2008 - 5 June 2009 Preceded by Peter Hain Succeeded by Peter Hain  Secretary of State for Wales  In office 28 July 1999 - 24 October 2002 Succeeded by Peter Hain  Chairperson of the Intelligence and Security Committee In office 6 May 2005 - 24 January 2008  Secretary of State for Northern Ireland  In office 24 October 2002 - 6 May 2005 Preceded by John Reid Succeeded by Peter Hain  Member of Parliament for Torfaen In office 11 June 1987 - 30 March 2015

Paul Peter Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torfaen from 1987 to 2015, and was in the Cabinet from 1999 to 2005 and again from 2008 to 2009 in the roles of Northern Irish and Welsh Secretary. He was nominated for a life peerage in 2015.

Background

Paul Peter Murphy was born to Ronald and Marjorie (née Gough) Murphy. He has a younger brother, Neil. Murphy's father, Ronald, was a miner of Irish descent. The family was devoutly Catholic. His mother, Marjorie (née Gough), was English, and her family were businesspeople.

Paul Murphy attended St Francis Roman Catholic School, Abersychan and West Monmouth School, Pontypool. He later attended Oriel College, Oxford to study history. He was a management trainee with the CWS, before becoming a lecturer in Government and History at Ebbw Vale College of Further Education, now part of Coleg Gwent. He has never married. Murphy once said in an interview "I have so many books, there's only enough room for me".

Early political career

Murphy joined the Labour Party at age 15, and is a member of the Transport and General Workers Union. He was Secretary of the Pontypool/Torfaen Constituency Labour Party from 1971 to 1987. He was a member of Torfaen Council from 1973 to 1987 and was chair of its finance committee from 1976 to 1986. He contested Wells Constituency in Somerset in the 1979 General Election.

Senior Cabinet posts

He was MP for Torfaen, Wales from the 1987 election. In opposition he was foreign affairs spokesperson and then in defence as navy spokesperson.

Following the 1997 election Murphy was appointed to the position of Minister of State for Northern Ireland.

He joined the cabinet in July 1999 following his appointment as Secretary of State for Wales on 28 July 1999. In 2002 he moved departments and became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a role in which he sat until his dismissal in the reshuffle that followed the 2005 general election when he became chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. He also was the British chair of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body and an executive committee member of the British-American Parliamentary Group.

Following the resignation of Peter Hain from the cabinet on 24 January 2008, he was again appointed Secretary of State for Wales 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.

He left the cabinet in 2009 when he was replaced as Welsh Secretary by Peter Hain following Hain's clearance following an investigation into election donations.

Parliamentary expenses

Murphy was subject to criticism over his expenses claims, revealed by the Daily Telegraph during the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal. Most notable of these was his £3,419.25 claim to have a new boiler installed in his Westminster house, stating that the previous one was a hazard as "The hot water was far too hot".

Other claims submitted by Paul Murphy relate to purchases of a toilet roll holder, new carpeting and a television, as well as mortgage payments and stamp duty. Murphy was ordered to repay some of the money improperly "claimed back" in the amount of £2,237.72 in cleaning costs, mortgage payments and a wardrobe that exceeded the guideline price.

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References

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