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The Right Honourable
The Lord Murphy of Torfaen
KCMCO KSG PC
The Right Honourable The Lord Murphy of Torfaen KCMCO KSG PC
	Official portrait, 2019
Secretary of State for Wales
	In office; 24 January 2008 – 5 June 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Peter Hain
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
	In office; 28 July 1999 – 24 October 2002
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Alun Michael
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee
	In office; 6 May 2005 – 24 January 2008
Preceded by	Ann Taylor
Succeeded by	Margaret Beckett
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
	In office; 24 October 2002 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
First Minister of Northern Ireland
	as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
	In office; 24 October 2002 – 6 May 2005
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	John Reid
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 20 October 2015; Life Peerage
Member of Parliament; for Torfaen
	In office; 11 June 1987 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Leo Abse
Succeeded by	Nick Thomas-Symonds
Personal details
Born	25 November 1948 (age 76); Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Oriel College, Oxford
Website	Constituency website

Paul Peter Murphy, Baron Murphy of Torfaen, KCMCO, KSG, PC (born 25 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torfaen from 1987 to 2015, and served 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 the 2015 Dissolution Honours.^[1]

Background

Paul Peter Murphy was born to Ronald and Marjorie (née Gough) Murphy.^[2] He has a younger brother, Neil. Murphy's father, Ronald, was a miner of Irish descent.^[3]^[4] The family was devoutly Catholic. His mother, Marjorie (née Gough), was English, and her family were businesspeople.^[5]

Paul Murphy attended St Francis Roman Catholic School, Abersychan and West Monmouth School, Pontypool. He later attended Oriel College, Oxford to study history.^[6] 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".^[7]

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 served as a 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.^[8] In 2002 he moved departments and became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a role in which he served until his dismissal in the reshuffle that followed the 2005 general election, when he became chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. He also served as 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^[9] 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 the clearance^[10]^[11] of accusations against Hain of election donations.

In 2013, Murphy wrote a report on the lack of success of applicants to Oxbridge universities from Welsh state schools.^[12] The report suggested the creation of the Seren Network, a set of regional hubs to link schools to top universities.^[13]

Voting record

In 1979 Murphy was a fierce opponent of devolution.^[14] Murphy recently said "I have been trying to work out whether or not I am a devo-sceptic and I have come to the conclusion that I am not. In 1978, I was a devo-opponent, and in 1997 I voted for devolution. My constituents agreed with me in 1978, but they did not agree with me in 1997, because they voted against a Welsh Assembly on both occasions. However, I would rather describe myself as a devo-realist, in the sense that what is here is here. I am not all that keen on a coalition in Cardiff, but we are where we are, and we have to work in the current political climate for the benefit of the people whom we represent, whether we are members of parliament, Assembly Members or members of local authorities".^[15]

In a free parliamentary vote on 20 May 2008, Murphy voted for cutting the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 12 weeks, along with two other Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly and Des Browne.^[16]

In February 2013, Murphy voted against the second reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013.^[17] Subsequently, in May 2013 the MP voted against the bill's third and final reading,^[18] opposing the legalisation of same-sex marriage within England and Wales.

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".^[19]

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.^[20]^[21] 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.^[22]

Personal life

Murphy was created a life peer taking the title Baron Murphy of Torfaen, of Abersychan in the County of Gwent on 20 October 2015.^[23]

He is a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Club.

References

^ "Dissolution Peerages 2015". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
^ Name: MURPHY, Paul/Registration district: Pontypool
County: Monmouthshire/Year of registration: 1948/Quarter of registration: Oct-Nov-Dec/Mother's maiden name: Gough/Volume 8C /Page # 416
^ "Welcome waleshome.org – BlueHost.com". waleshome.org. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009.
^ "VOTE2001 – WALES – Murphy keeps Welsh Secretary role". BBC.
^ "Rt. Hon. Paul Murphy MP". fsb.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "UK – Oxbridge blues, and reds". BBC. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "Welcome waleshome.org – BlueHost.com". waleshome.org. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "Murphy confirmed as Welsh Secretary". BBC News. 28 July 1999. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
^ "UK – Wales – Murphy returns as Welsh secretary". BBC. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "CPS decides no charges for Peter Hain MP". Crown Prosecution Service. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2008. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "Hain not charged over donations". BBC News. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
^ Leonard, Kevin (18 April 2013). "Teachers 'lack Oxbridge ambition'". BBC News. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
^ Feeney, Jack (17 March 2016). "Call for ambassadors to help shape the future of Wales' brightest students". walesonline. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
^ "The Secret life of Paul Murphy. – Paul Flynn – Read My Day". typepad.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "Paul Murphy MP – Working hard for Torfaen". paulmurphymp.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ "UK – UK Politics – MPs back 24-week abortion limit". BBC. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "MP-by-MP: Gay marriage vote". BBC News. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
^ "The Public Whip — Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill — Third Reading - 21 May 2013 at 18:59". www.publicwhip.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
^ Rosa Prince (8 May 2009). "Paul Murphy's plumbing bill because water was too hot: MPs' expenses". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "Expenses: Breakdown of Claims by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Main Cabinet Ministers | Politics | Sky News". Sky News. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ "MPs' expenses". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "Legg blames parliament, MPs and the Speaker". politics.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
^ "No. 61390". The London Gazette. 26 October 2015. p. 20046.

External links

Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
Voting record at Public Whip
Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Leo Abse	Member of Parliament for Torfaen 1987–2015	Succeeded by Nick Thomas-Symonds
Political offices
Preceded by Alun Michael	Secretary of State for Wales 1999–2002	Succeeded by Peter Hain
Preceded by John Reid	Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 2002–2005	Succeeded by Peter Hain
Preceded by Ann Taylor	Chairperson of the Intelligence and Security Committee 2005–2008	Succeeded by Margaret Beckett
Preceded by Peter Hain	Secretary of State for Wales 2008–2009	Succeeded by Peter Hain
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Beith	Gentlemen Baron Murphy of Torfaen	Followed by The Lord Livermore