Carwyn Jones and Kevin Brennan go to the House of Lords

Martin Shipton

Former First Minister Carwyn Jones and ex-Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan have both been appointed to the House of Lords by Keir Starmer as part of a 30-strong contingent of new Labour peers.

Both appointments have a controversial element.

Mr Jones, who represented Bridgend at the Senedd from 1999 until 2021, served as First Minister from 2009 until 2018, has been criticised for his role in the Carl Sargeant affair, in which the Labour politician took his own life days after being sacked from the Cabinet by Mr Jones following unspecified allegations of sexual harassment made by a number of women.

Mr Jones refused to give Mr Sargeant details of the allegations against him and was challenged at the inquest into the late Minister’s death over his handling of the crisis by a barrister representing the Sargeant family.

The former First Minister was also criticised by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which accused him of not declaring the full details of a post he had been appointed to after stepping down from the Senedd.

‘Delighted’

Mr Jones, who has refused to do interviews, said: “I’m delighted to have been named in the list of peerages announced today and am looking forward to supporting the Labour government at Westminster and strengthening Wales’ voice in the House of Lords.”

Demonstrating that some members of the party remain bitterly opposed to Mr Jones, a Welsh Labour source who wishes to remain anonymous contacted us to say: “Disappointing news. Unease about Carwyn Jones and his conduct is one of the few things that unites Welsh Labour. Some would have preferred Vaughan Gething as Wales’ first black leader and others have watched Carwyn’s cringeworthy attempts to earn a living post FM with real embarrassment. Carwyn has real potential to further damage the party.

“Most people however will just be sad that this controversial figure has been rewarded. Not a great day for politics in Wales.”

Mr Jones has previously denied that he has found difficulty in finding work since leaving the Senedd in 2021.

Unexpected

Mr Brennan served as MP for Cardiff West from 2001 until the dissolution of Parliament before this year’s general election. His decision to stand down was unexpected, and announced hours after a deadline passed by which time Labour MPs had been asked to tell the party that they didn’t intend to stand for another term.

Because he missed the deadline, grassroots party members did not get a say in choosing the new candidate. Instead a panel appointed by Labour’s ruling national executive committee selected Alex Barros-Curtis as Mr Brennan’s successor, the party’s executive director of legal affairs. Mr Barros-Curtis, who went on to win the seat at the election, is close to Keir Starmer and steered a legal case brought against a number of former party officials who allegedly leaked a damaging internal party report to the media. The case was subsequently discontinued, at a reputed cost of millions of pounds to UK Labour.

When Mr Brennan announced his late decision to stand down, there was widespread speculation at Westminster that he had been offered a peerage in return for going so that a Starmer loyalist could be “parachuted” into Cardiff West, a seat whose local Labour party was predominantly composed of left-wingers who would be unlikely to select someone like Mr Barros-Curtis.

Chief special adviser

When Eluned Morgan became First Minister, she appointed Mr Brennan as her chief special adviser. Today, the Welsh Government has announced that following his appointment to the House of Lords, Mr Brennan will be stepping down from his role in the coming weeks when he takes up his position as a peer, the date of which has not yet been determined.

Former MEP, Caerphilly MP and Wales Office Minister Wayne David will replace Mr Brennan as the First Minister’s chief special adviser in the new year.

Baroness Morgan said: “I would like to thank Kevin for stepping in to help when I took over as First Minister in August. His experience, advice and friendship have been invaluable in helping me to meet the challenges of the demanding role of First Minister. I know that he will continue to serve the interests of Wales in his new position.

“I am delighted that Wayne David has agreed to take on the role of chief special adviser. We have worked together closely over decades, and like Kevin, Wayne has a huge amount of experience of Welsh and UK politics. I feel fortunate to have such an excellent successor to Kevin in Wayne.”

Mr Brennan was asked to comment, but did not do so.

The list of new peers in full:

Nominations from the Leader of the Labour Party:
Professor Wendy Alexander FRSE – Vice Chair of the British Council, former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North and previously Labour Leader in the Scottish Parliament.

Sir Brendan Barber – former General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress and former chair of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

Luciana Berger – former Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree and current Chair of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.

Mary Bousted – formerly the Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), and education policy adviser.

Kevin Brennan – former Member of Parliament for Cardiff West and former Minister of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Lyn Brown – former Member of Parliament for West Ham and former Shadow Minister.

Dinah Caine OBE CBE – Chair of Camden STEAM, formerly Chair of Goldsmiths University and CEO and Chair of Creative Skillset.

Kay Carberry CBE – former Assistant General Secretary of the British Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Margaret Curran – former Member of Parliament for Glasgow East and formerly Minister within the Scottish Executive.

Thangam Debbonaire – former Member of Parliament for Bristol West and former Shadow Secretary of State.

Julie Elliott – former Member of Parliament for Sunderland Central and former Shadow Minister.

David Evans – former Labour Party Regional Director, Assistant General Secretary and General Secretary of the Labour Party 2020-2024.

Sue Gray – former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister and former Cabinet Office Second Permanent Secretary.

Theresa Griffin – former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England.

Anji Hunter – Senior Advisor at Edelman, and former Head of Government Relations in Downing Street.

Carwyn Jones – former Member of the Senedd (MS) for Bridgend and First Minister of Wales.

Mike Katz – National Chair of Jewish Labour Movement and a former Camden Councillor.

Gerard Lemos CMG CBE – Social Policy expert and Chair of English Heritage, Chair of National Savings & Investments (NS&I), and Chair of London Institute of Banking and Finance.

Alison Levitt KC – Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple. Previously Principal Legal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions and a Circuit Judge specialising in serious crime, including rape.

Anne Longfield CBE – Campaigner for children and formerly served as the Children’s Commissioner for England. Founder and Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives.

Deborah Mattinson – former Director of Strategy to Sir Keir Starmer. Co-founder of BritainThinks.

Steve McCabe – former Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hall Green and Birmingham Selly Oak, and former Government Whip.

Claude Moraes OBE – former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London and chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee.

Wendy Nichols – UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Convenor and Branch Secretary and Labour Councillor.

Simon Pitkeathley – Currently the Chief Executive of Camden Town Unlimited and Euston Town, formerly the Mayor of London’s ‘Champion for Small Business’.

Dame Anne Marie Rafferty DBE FRCN – Professor of nursing policy and former President of the Royal College of Nursing.

Krish Raval OBE – Founding Director of Faith in Leadership.

Marvin Rees OBE – former Mayor of Bristol and Head of Bristol City Council. Former journalist, voluntary sector manager and NHS public health manager.

Rev Dr Russell David Rook OBE – Partner at the Good Faith Partnership and Anglican priest.

Phil Wilson – former Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, and former Opposition Assistant Whip.

Nominations from the Leader of the Conservative Party:
Nigel Biggar CBE – Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford and Anglican priest.

Joanne Cash – Co-founder of Parent Gym and barrister serving as the Southeastern Circuit Junior and a member of the Bar Human Rights Committee.

Rt Hon Dame Thérèse Coffey PhD – former Deputy Prime Minister and former Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal.

Roger Evans – former Deputy Mayor of London and former member of the London Assembly for Havering and Redbridge.

Rachel Maclean – former Member of Parliament for Redditch and former Minister of State for Housing and Planning.

Toby Young – founder and director of the Free Speech Union, and an associate editor of The Spectator.

Nominations from the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party:
Cllr Shaffaq Mohammed MBE – former Sheffield City Councillor and chair of the Liberal Democrat Carers Commission.

Dr Mark Pack – former President of the Liberal Democrats.