Leighton Andrews was a Member of the National Assembly for
Wales between May 2003 and April 2016. This was his biography at the time he
left.
Personal history
Born in Cardiff and brought up in Barry and Dorset, Leighton
Andrews holds a BA Honours (English and History) from the University of Wales,
Bangor, and an MA in History from the University of Sussex. Leighton was a
visiting professor at the University of Westminster from 1997 to 2002, and is
an honorary professor at Cardiff University.
Professional
background
Leighton has worked for several charities as a parliamentary
officer and campaign director, as well as working as a public affairs
consultant in the private sector.
He was the Head of Public Affairs for the BBC between 1993
and 1996 and also worked as a lecturer at Cardiff School of Journalism. He is a
former board member of Tai Cymru.
Political history
Leighton was first elected to the Assembly in May 2003. In
his first term he served on the Education, Culture, and Economic Development
Committees. Leighton was re-elected in May 2007, following which he joined the
Welsh Government as Deputy Minister for Social Justice and Public Service
Delivery, with special responsibility for housing issues. When the One Wales
coalition government was formed in July 2007, Leighton was appointed Deputy
Minister for Regeneration, working within the Department for the Economy and
Transport and the Department for Social Justice and Local Government. In 2009
he was appointed Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning. In May
2011 he became Minister for Education and Skills.
His political interests include education, the economy,
culture, housing, the media, health and social inclusion.
Register of Interests
Register
of Interests – Fourth Assembly (PDF, 850kb)
Register
of Interests – Third Assembly (PDF, 490kb)
Register
of Interests – Second Assembly (PDF, 361kb)
