Hywel Francis

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Hywel Francis
Welsh Affairs Committee
In office
13 July 2005 – 6 May 2010
Preceded byMartyn Jones
Succeeded byDavid TC Davies
Member of Parliament
for Aberavon
In office
7 June 2001 – 30 March 2015
Preceded byJohn Morris
Succeeded byStephen Kinnock
Personal details
Born
David Hywel Francis

(1946-06-06)6 June 1946
Neath, Glamorgan, Wales
Died14 February 2021(2021-02-14) (aged 74)
Morriston, Swansea, Wales
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Mair Price
​
(m. 1968)​
Children3
ParentDai Francis (father)
Alma materSwansea University
Profession
WebsiteOfficial website

David Hywel Francis

Welsh Affairs Committee from 2005 to 2010 and the Joint Committee on Human Rights from 2010 to 2015.[2]

Background

Hywel Francis attended

University of Wales, Swansea, where he earned a doctorate in history. Francis continued to work at the University of Wales as a professor in Adult Continuing Education before being elected in 2001.[4] At the University of Wales, he founded the South Wales Miners' Library. He also was the chair of the Wales Congress in Support of Mining Communities.[5] Francis was a speaker of the Welsh language.[5]

Francis was a member of the Gorsedd Cymru from 1986. He was made vice-president of Carers UK and honorary parliamentary patron of the adult learners' body, NIACE. He was a trustee of the Paul Robeson Wales Trust and the Bevan Foundation he founded. He was the South Wales Miners' Museum president. He authored many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and several books. His books include: The Fed (co-author, Dai Smith) in 1980 (reprinted in 1998[6]); Miners Against Fascism in 1984; Wales: A Learning Country in 1999; History on Our Side in 2009; and Do Miners Read Dickens? (co-author, Siân Williams) in 2013.[4][5] Francis is featured in the documentary film After Coal.[citation needed]

He was the son of

industrial unrest of the 1970s. Like his father, he had been a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.[citation needed
]

Political career

In 1999, Francis became a

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Steel and Cast Metal; and chair of the All-Party Carers Group.[4]

Francis voted in favour of a bill that banned smoking in restaurants in April 2003.

replacement of the Trident system.[14]

He voted in favour of adding clauses to a bill that allow the Secretary of State[

Prevention of Terrorism Bill from "The Secretary of State may make a control order against an individual" to "The Secretary of State may apply to the court for a control order [...]".[17]

In March 2003, he voted that the case had not yet been made for

privy counsellors into the Iraq War.[20]

Francis fought against the closing of Port Talbot's magistrates and the moving of administrative posts to other locations, saying, "Local justice needs to take place in a local setting."[21] He suggested that Wales could have a carers' commissioner based on the Children's Commissioner for Wales.[22]

In February 2011, it was reported that Francis had been quoted in a

Welsh Labour Party and suggesting that many in the party were hoping for a "white knight" to be "parachute[d] in" from outside the Assembly. However, Francis claimed that he could not recall the conversation, suggesting that "it sounds as if the diplomat suffers from poor shorthand" and stating that "it is on the record that I was an early supporter of [Assembly Member and successful leadership candidate] Carwyn Jones [...] I would certainly not have supported such an absurd suggestion as parachuting anyone into the assembly".[23][24]

On 22 November 2013, Francis announced he would be standing down as MP for Aberavon at the 2015 general election.[25] Stephen Kinnock, son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, was selected to succeed Francis as the Labour candidate for Aberavon.[26]

Personal life

Francis married Mair Price in 1968.[3] They had a son with Down syndrome, who died aged 16 in 1997 of a heart condition.[3]

He died aged 74 from cancer on 14 February 2021,[3] at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, Wales.[27] Francis is survived by his wife and two children.[3]

Publications

References

  1. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8747.
  2. ^ a b "Parliamentary career for Dr Hywel Francis". MPs and Lords. UK Parliament. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Smith, Dai (1 March 2021). "Hywel Francis obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Dr Hywel Francis MP". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d "Hywel Francis". ePolitix.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  6. ISBN 978-0-7083-1422-7
    .
  7. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 Apr 2003 (pt 15)". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  8. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 20 Dec 2004 (pt 42)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  9. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Oct 2005 (pt 35)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  10. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Mar 2002 (pt 40)". Archived from the original on 23 May 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  11. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 8 Jul 2003 (pt 27)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  12. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 4 Nov 2002 (pt 28)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  13. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 Oct 2004 (pt 34)". Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  14. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 14 Mar 2007 (pt 0022)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  15. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 21 Nov 2001 (pt 28)". Archived from the original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  16. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 Nov 2001 (pt 30)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  17. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 28 Feb 2005 (pt 40)". Archived from the original on 26 August 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  18. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 18 Mar 2003 (pt 47)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  19. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 4 Jun 2003 (pt 25)". Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  20. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 11 Jun 2007 (pt 0015)". Archived from the original on 23 November 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  21. ^ "Fears over town's court closure". BBC News. 24 May 2006. Archived from the original on 4 June 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2007.
  22. ^ "Carers 'champion' urged for Wales". BBC News. 2 December 2005. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  23. ^ "Wikileaks reveals US cable on 'weak' Welsh devolution". BBC News. 7 February 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  24. ^ "Wales: Who Will Replace First Minister Morgan When he Resigns?". The Telegraph. 4 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  25. ^ "Hywel Francis to stand down as MP for Aberavon in 2015". BBC News. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  26. ^ "Neil Kinnock's son Stephen selected to fight Aberavon seat". BBC News. 22 March 2014. Archived from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
  27. ^ "Ex-MP Hywel Francis dies: Tributes to 'lovely and compassionate person'". BBC News. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Aberavon
2001–2015 		Succeeded by
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