Former MP Kevin Brennan to be top adviser to First Minister Eluned Morgan

Martin Shipton

Former Welsh Labour MP Kevin Brennan will head up Eluned Morgan’s team of special advisers when she takes over as First Minister, we can reveal.

In a wholly unexpected move, Baroness Morgan confirmed to NationCymru that Mr Brennan, who stood down as Cardiff West’s MP after 23 years at the general election, would be a crucial member of her top team.

She told us: “Kevin is brilliant and he has my type of politics.”

It is highly unusual for an MP to become a special adviser after stepping down from Parliament. The direction of travel is usually in the opposite direction, with many special advisers going on to become elected politicians.

Rhodri Morgan

Becoming a special adviser will not be a new experience for Mr Brennan, however. He was chief of staff for Rhodri Morgan, who preceded him as the MP for Cardiff West, and worked for him during the first term of the then National Assembly.

He ran Mr Morgan’s Welsh Labour leadership campaign in 1999 when he was defeated by Alun Michael in what many regarded as a stitched-up contest in which undemocratic union block votes were used to cancel out the votes of ordinary members.

A political source told us: “It’s a shrewd move to appoint Kevin. He obviously has an extremely good knowledge about all aspects of Welsh politics and a great understanding of how things work. He also has a great knowledge of Westminster and how things operate there.

“This will be enormously valuable at a time when much is being said about the ability of two Labour governments to work together in the interests of Wales.”

‘Good appointment’

A Welsh Labour insider said: “This is a very good appointment. Some of us were a bit upset with Kevin when he announced he was standing down late, which meant that local party members didn’t get a say in deciding who his successor was. Nevertheless he can bring a great deal to the table: he’s been a Welsh Labour MP for 23 years; he worked in the Senedd for a year as a senior adviser to Rhodri Morgan and he has a lot of local government experience too, having been a Cardiff councillor.

“His appointment contrasts with the poor quality people that Vaughan Gething surrounded himself with, who were there to serve his interests rather than the interests of Wales, and created a total mess that somebody else will now have to clean up.”

Another Labour insider said: “This is a very positive appointment. It’s intended to bring stability and in terms of party management to bring the Labour group together.

“He’s also a grown-up who can pick up the phone to Number 10 or the Welsh Office and be treated with respect.”

Asked about the possibility that Mr Brennan will go to the House of Lords, the insider said: “Even if that happened, it wouldn’t prevent him from working for the Welsh Government. His role may be interim to start with, but even if he goes part-time later he will have set the tone and got things back on an even keel after the disastrous Gething period.”

Inventive

Former Welsh Secretary Lord Peter Hain said: “This is a brilliantly inventive choice, signalling Eluned’s desire to turn the SpAds into a much more proactive team, especially for fast rebuttals when under attack by Tories in London.

“Kevin’s very experience, media savvy and Welsh to his fingertips with a highly political Westminster hinterland.

“It’s great news all round and indicative of how radical a First Minister Eluned will be: both in touch with the grassroots, but also highly experienced politically.”

Mr Brennan was brought up in Cwmbran, the son of a steelworker who had migrated to Wales from County Cork in Ireland and a school dinner lady.

He was educated at St Alban’s RC High School in Pontypool and Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He succeeded future Tory leader William Hague as President of the Oxford Union.

Before going to work for Mr Morgan, he was head of economics at Radyr Comprehensive School in Cardiff.

Mr Brennan was appointed a government whip by Tony Blair and later had several non-Cabinet ministerial roles under Gordon Brown.

Latterly he served as Shadow Minister for Victims and Sentencing on the Labour front bench under Sir Keir Starmer.

He is also an accomplished singer songwriter and has been a member of the cross-party band MP4, which has raised large sums for charity. In 2021 Mr Brennan released his first solo album, The Clown and the Cigarette Girl.