The Right Honourable Alun Michael (born August 2, 1943) is a Welsh politician. He is Labour and Co-operative member of Parliament for Cardiff South and Penarth. He has been a member of the Privy Council since 1998.

He became an MP at the 1987 election, and Secretary of State for Wales in 1998 following Ron Davies's resignation. With backing from the central party, he was made leader of the Labour Party in the National Assembly for Wales, but was later forced to resign, and was replaced by Rhodri Morgan, generally seen as the locally favoured choice in the first place.

In 2001 he was appointed Minister of State for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality, a post within DEFRA. He is the minister most closely connected with a ban on hunting with dogs, for which he has attracted much criticism from hunt supporters. Michael was also criticised for the way he cited scientific research in Parliamentry debates, after citing the research of Sir Patrick Bateson as "incontrovertible" proof of need for a total ban, Sir Patrick replied, "Only somebody who was scientifically illiterate could argue that evidence from a new area of research was 'incontrovertible'" [1] [2].

In 2004 he presided over the introduction and successful enactment of the Hunting Bill which will bring about a ban on hare-coursing, beagling, fox, mink and stag hunting in the UK from February 2005. At the time this law was being debated, and immediately after it was passed, Michael had to cancel a number of government and party appointments due to protests from hunt supporters.

Michael's former assistant, Lorraine Barrett, is the Welsh Assembly member for Cardiff South and Penarth.

Bibliography

• Dragon on Our Doorstep: New Politics for a New Millennium in Wales by Alun Michael (University of Wales,Aberystwyth, 2000) ISBN 0953782905
• Labour in Action: Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime - a Collection of Essays edited by Alun Michael (Fabian Society, 1997) ISBN 0716330334

External links

• Defra - Alun Michael official profile
• Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle - Alun Michael
• They Work For You - Alun Michael
• Where's Alun? fan site

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
— | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |First Secretary to the National Assembly for Wales
1999–2000 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Rhodri Morgan