Tom Middlehurst

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Tom Middlehurst
Assembly Member for Alyn and Deeside
In office
6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003
Preceded byAssembly established
Succeeded byCarl Sargeant
Majority6,359 (33.42%)
Leader of Flintshire County Council
In office
1 April 1996 – 14 May 1999
Preceded byCouncil re-established
Succeeded byAlex Aldridge
Other elected offices
1963‍–‍1999
Member of Skelmersdale Urban District Council for Old Skelmersdale
In office
9 May 1963 – 26 March 1968
Preceded byTom Pye
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
Member of Alyn and Deeside District Council for Ewloe
In office
7 May 1987 – 31 March 1996
Serving with P. Bernie
Preceded byD. Davies
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
Member of Clwyd County Council for Sealand
In office
6 May 1993 – 31 March 1996
Preceded byWard established
Succeeded byCouncil abolished
Member of Flintshire County Council for Ewloe
In office
1 April 1996 – 14 May 1999
Serving with Alison Halford
Preceded byCouncil re-established
Succeeded byD. Parry
Personal details
Born (1936-06-25) 25 June 1936 (age 87)
Labour
Spouse
Patricia Mary
​
(m. 1986)​
Children2
Liverpool Polytechnic
Signature

Thomas Middlehurst (born 25 June 1936) is a British retired politician who served as

Assembly Member (AM) for Alyn and Deeside
from 1999 until his retirement in 2003.

Middlehurst was born in

Liverpool Polytechnic, and in his early life lived in Skelmersdale. He was an engineering apprentice from 1952 to 1957 and worked as an engineer at the National Coal Board from 1957 to 1963, before working as an engineer and manager in the private sector until 1971. In 1971, he moved to Wales and became a local government officer for Flintshire County Council and its successor Clwyd County Council
, remaining in this job until 1993.

In 1963, Middlehurst was elected as a Labour councillor for

balance the budget. He also fought to prevent the closure of Theatr Clwyd and persuaded Terry Hands to become its director. From 1997 to 1999, he also chaired the Welsh Local Government Association
.

In the first election to the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, Middlehurst was elected as AM for Alyn and Deeside. He was appointed to the cabinet of First Secretary Alun Michael as Assembly Secretary for Education and Training. In this role, he implemented free entry for children to galleries and museums, reformed the post-16 system of education and training and trialled a welfare scheme for benefit claimaints in Newport, Torfaen and Monmouthsire. He also intervened in the Wales Millennium Centre project to keep government spending under control. He remained in his post under Michael's successor Rhodri Morgan until October 2000, when he resigned in protest of Labour's coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats. He retired at the 2003 assembly election after becoming disillusioned with the politics of the National Assembly.

Early life

Thomas Middlehurst

fitter and lived in Sherrat Street, Skelmersdale.[2][4]

Career in local government

Middlehurst is a member of the Labour Party. In the 1960s, he was the secretary of the local branch of the Labour Party in Skelmersdale.[2] In the 1963 local elections, he stood for election to the Old Skelmersdale ward[5] in Skelmersdale Urban District Council to fill the vacancy left by the death of Labour councillor Tom Pye.[2] He was elected for a term of 12 months, the remainder of Pye's term, with 830 votes.[6] He stood for re-election in the 1964 local elections, where he won a second 12 month term,[6][7] and the 1965 local elections.[8] In 1966, he was elected chair of the council's parks committee.[9] In 1968, Skelmersdale Urban District Council was abolished and replaced by Skelmersdale and Holland Urban District Council; Middlehurst was one of six Labour councillors who did not stand for election to the new council.[10][11]

In 1971 Middlehurst moved to Wales, settling in Ewloe, Flintshire.[3][12] He worked as a local government officer for Flintshire County Council and its successor Clwyd County Council until 1993.[3] In the 1987 local elections, he was elected as one of two councillors for Ewloe in Alyn and Deeside District Council alongside Conservative councillor P. Bernie. Middlehurst was re-elected alongside Bernie in the 1991 local elections and also served as the chair of the council's housing committee.[13][3] He was also elected unopposed[14] as the councillor for Sealand in Clwyd County Council at the 1993 local elections, where he went on to chair the personnel committee.[15][3]

Leader of Flintshire County Council

In 1994 the government reorganised local government in Wales, with Clwyd County Council and Alyn and Deeside District Council set to be abolished and replaced by a re-established Flintshire County Council from 1996.[16] At the 1995 local elections, Middlehurst was elected alongside Labour colleague Alison Halford as one of two incoming councillors for Ewloe in Flintshire County Council.[17] On 31 May 1995, the incoming members of the council elected him as Leader of the Council.[18] He formally took office as the first leader of the reconstituted council on its re-establishment in 1996, becoming leader of a Labour majority administration.[19][20]

Middlehurst became Leader of Flintshire County Council on a background of government spending cuts for the county of Flintshire. This meant the council had to raise an extra £3 million in 1996 to provide services at the same standard as provided by its predecessors.

balance the budget.[21] The financial issues also threatened the future of Theatr Clwyd. As council leader, Middlehurst fought to prevent the theatre's closure.[3][22] In May 1997, he persuaded Terry Hands to become its director and draw up a plan to secure its future, helping to successfully save the theatre.[23][24][25]

In December 1996, Middlehurst said he was considering another rise in council tax, this time by 20%, and cutting spending by 8% to maintain services for 1997. However, the government blocked the council from implementing any more council tax increases in that year; as a result the decision was made to cut more services instead. By February 1997, spending on all services including education had been cut by 8%.[26][27] In December 1997, Middlehurst announced that the government had allowed the council to implement more tax rises, meaning that services would not need to be cut in 1998 and 1999 like in the previous two years.[28] In May 1998, the Audit Commission published its report on the financial performance of local authorities in Wales. Flintshire was judged to have performed above average in most areas while also underperforming in other areas, particularly in the levels of funding for school pupils.[29]

On 4 December 1998, Middlehurst was shortlisted for Labour's

National Assembly for Wales.[12] His candidacy was confirmed on 18 December. At the time, he refused to be drawn on his future as Leader of Flintshire County Council should he be elected to the National Assembly.[12][30]

National Assembly for Wales

National Assembly for Wales

At the first election to the National Assembly for Wales on 6 May 1999, Middlehurst was elected as

Assembly Member (AM) for Alyn and Deeside with 9,772 votes, or 51.35% of the popular vote in the constituency; he had a majority of 6,359 votes.[3] The constituency had a voter turnout of 32%, the lowest in Wales; it had voted against establishing a devolved assembly in the 1997 devolution referendum by a wide margin.[31][3] In an interview for the Flint and Holywell Chronicle on 14 May, Middlehurst said the low voter turnout showed that his constituents still did not see the new assembly as having any relevance. He said his role was now to prove to his constituents that the National Assembly and the decisions made in it were relevant to their everyday lives, and that to do this he had to work "diligently over a number of years" and explain "to people what we [assembly members] do and why we are doing it".[31] He resigned as Leader of Flintshire County Council on the same day. The council's controlling Labour group elected Alex Aldridge to succeed him.[32]

At the election, Labour on a national level won the most seats in the assembly but fell short of securing an

First Secretary of Wales formed a Labour minority administration. The Labour group in the National Assembly organised itself into three factions, including a faction loyal to Michael, a faction of Welsh devolutionists and autonomists, and a third non-aligned faction which later became loyal to the devolutionist first secretary Rhodri Morgan following Michael's resignation in 2000; Middlehurst aligned himself with the third faction.[33]

Assembly Secretary for Education and Training

At the first plenary session of the National Assembly on 12 May 1999, First Secretary Alun Michael appointed Middlehurst to

Post-16 Education and Training Committee, which scrutinised his portfolio and worked with him to draw up policy.[41][42][43]

In addition to Middlehurst, the cabinet also had another education secretary in

Environment and Local Government portfolio in areas relating to built heritage preservation. Middlehurst viewed these overlapping responsibilities as "an opportunity […] to consider major issues affecting Wales in a holistic rather than isolated way".[43] In February 2000, official responsibility for youth services was also transferred from Butler's portfolio to Middlehurst's.[33]

Middlehurst with First Secretary Rhodri Morgan (centre) and chief executive of the National Council for Education and Training Steve Martin (right) in August 2000

Middlehurst and Butler took office at a time of hostility in Wales toward the education policies introduced in England, and they avoided implementing any of the same policies which were being introduced there.

teaching unions; there were fears that there would be cuts in sixth form funding to increase funding for further education, and leading trade unionists claimed that the new community consortiums would be more unreliant and costly. The unions also argued that local education authorities should continue to hold an important role in funding sixth forms.[48] The reforms were endorsed by the National Assembly in February 2000 and made law in July 2000.[49][50]

In November 1999, Middlehurst launched a trial programme for

National Museum of Wales, a change which came into effect from April 2000.[53][54] The spending increases would also pay for new apprenticeships and contribute to new financial support for children from poorer backgrounds.[53]

The Wales Millennium Centre, pictured above in 2008

In September 1999, reports that the completion of the Wales Millennium Centre would be delayed by nine months to 2002 led to calls for Middlehurst to clarify the timetable for its opening.[55] In October, Middlehurst confirmed that the centre would not be opened until 2002 because of an unexpected delay in financial agreements and planning permissions which were required before the project could continue as planned.[56] A year later, the expected costs of the project were projected to increase from the original budget of £70.2 million to an estimated £85 million.[57] To keep government spending under control, Middlehurst intervened and enforced a £75 million cap on spending for the project. He also requested a review of the existing plans for the project.[58][57] Shortly after, the owner of the land on which the project was to be built put it up for sale, making the project's future uncertain. Middlehurst was consequently blamed in the press for the issues surrounding the project until his resignation in October 2000, even though Cardiff Council had made an offer to purchase the land to save the project in September.[59][58]

Resignation from the cabinet and retirement

In October 1999, the opposition parties in the National Assembly passed a

economic development secretary Rhodri Morgan was elected by the assembly to succeed him.[60]

On the formation of Morgan's first administration in February 2000, Middlehurst remained in the cabinet as Assembly Secretary for Education and Training. Morgan decided against making any instant changes to the cabinet following Michael's resignation but did mention the possibility of changes later in the year, some of which he suggested could be the result of potential future deals with other parties.[62] By July, he had sacked Christine Gwyther. This prompted speculation over the potential dismissals of Middlehurst and Rosemary Butler later in the year, as it was possible that Morgan would formally merge their education portfolios in the cabinet.[63] Over the next few months, Morgan negotiated a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrat leader Mike German. This would give his administration a working majority in the assembly.[64][65] The deal was announced on 5 October and entitled the Liberal Democrats to two cabinet seats and several policy concessions including significant changes to education.[65][66] Middlehurst later said he was concerned with these concessions.[67]

I have never envisaged an outcome where Liberals would sit in the Cabinet. That to me is too high a price to pay. Apart from this I have no regard for the Liberal Democrats and do not trust them as long-term allies. I cannot forget how they conspired with the Tories and the Nationalists to censure Christine Gwyther on wholly spurious grounds and then committed the ultimate act of treachery in aiding and abetting the downfall of Alun Michael.

Excerpt from Middlehurst's resignation letter to Rhodri Morgan in October 2000.[59]

Middlehurst resigned from the cabinet in protest of the coalition agreement on 9 October.

Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning.[71]

In December 2001, Middlehurst announced that he would retire at the next assembly election in 2003.[72] He said he had grown disillusioned with the politics of the assembly since his resignation from the cabinet, stating: "I don't like the politics of this place". He criticised the opposition parties in the assembly for forcing Alun Michael's resignation and said they had harmed the assembly's reputation with the Welsh public, calling their behaviour in the assembly "an absolute disgrace". He also reaffirmed his disapproval of Labour's coalition with the Liberal Democrats, stating that it had given the latter "influence and power disproportionate to their number".[73] He said this was the result of the assembly's "failed" proportionally representative electoral system, which he claimed to have opposed, and added that his experience in the assembly had justified his support for the first-past-the-post electoral system. Other stated reasons for his retirement included the "demanding" journey from his constituency to the location of the assembly in Cardiff and personal issues relating to his family. For the remainder of his term, Middlehurst said he would continue to support Rhodri Morgan as first secretary and remain "committed to devolution".[73]

As promised, Middlehurst retired from the National Assembly at the 2003 assembly election. He was succeeded as AM for Alyn and Deeside by

token gesture that could prove extremely divisive" and "exacerbate the perceived divide" between the North and the perceivingly South-dominated National Assembly.[78] In 2011, he expressed concern about the Welsh Government's policy to appoint unelected commissioners to intervene in troubled local authorities and administer them.[79]

Personal life

Middlehurst married Patricia Mary on 11 April 1986. He has two children from a previous marriage. He is a supporter of

crown green bowling.[3] He has served as the chairman of the Welsh Crown Green Bowling Association following his retirement from politics.[80]

References

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External links

Senedd
Preceded by
(new post)
Alyn and Deeside
1999 – 2003
 Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
(new post)
Assembly Secretary for Education and Training

1999–2000 		Succeeded by
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