'Nick' (Nicholas) AINGER Labour CARMARTHEN WEST & SOUTH PEMBROKESHIRE '97- Majority: 4,538 (12.3%) Over Conservative 6-Way

'Nick' (Nicholas) Labour CARMARTHEN WEST & SOUTH AINGER PEMBROKESHIRE '97-

Majority: 4,538 (12.3%) over Conservative 6-way Description: This '95-new seat includes the whole of the county town of Carmarthen, the Welsh-speaking rural fringe on the border between Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire and 30,000 voters from south Pembrokeshire, including "little England beyond Wales" (English- speaking Tenby, Saundersfoot and Manorbier) as well as industrial Pembroke Dock; Position: Whip (Lord Commissioner) '01-; on the Administration Committee '01; ex: PPS, to Paul Murphy '99-01, Alun Michael '98- 99, Ron Davies '97- 98; on Welsh Select Committee '93-96; on Commons Broadcasting Committee '92-94; Dyfed County Councillor (Vice Chairman, Labour Group) '81-93; Outlook: An energetic politician silenced by his Whips' Office responsibilities and converted into a Blairite conformist on Iraq; one of West Wales' most successful ìncomers' from àway' in Sheffield; the PPS whom Ron Davies stood up for his `moment of madness'; a former Pembroke Dock ship's-rigger who proved himself by his constructive criticisms of the mishandling of the holed `Sea Empress' oil tanker pollution incident; an opponent of fox- hunting and a supporter of an elected head of state; a very bright, highly-active and well- regarded local job and environment defender; a full-timer with no sponsorship, no consultancies, who gives his media income to charity; a former Dyfed County Councillor who became the prime instrument for ending Tory ex-MP Nick Bennett's local career; Aneurin Bevan is his hero; a multi- cause groupie (Amnesty, Friends of the Earth, League Against Cruel Sports, Dyfed Wildlife Trust, RSPB, Greenpeace); History: He joined the Labour Party '79; was elected to Dyfed County Council May '81; formed an action committee to block import of hazardous PCBs from Canada through Pembroke en route to ReChem plant in Pontypool Aug '89; was endorsed by NEC as Pembroke's Labour candidate with a personal commendation from Neil Kinnock (not an admirer of Nick Bennett) Apr '90; was active in resisting Ministry of Defence plans for a giant #100m òver- the-horizon' radar base at St Davids Airfield in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Apr '90; said: "I have yet to meet a single person who is not outraged by the poll tax; the strength of feeling against it is not going to die down; it is an albatross around the neck of the Tory Government" Apr '90; warned that "people contemplating not paying [the poll tax] must be made aware of the power and penalties involved" May '90; at Welsh Labour Conference criticised health dangers from giant radar beam at St Davids; but spoke of need to retain Royal Naval Armament Depot at Trecwn, North Pembroke: "Trecwn is the best facility of its kind in the country and probably Europe; there will always be a need to store conventional explosives, whatever happens in Eastern Europe, and Trecwn is the place to store them" May '90; warned local health authority against allowing local hospitals to opt out May '90; backed a decommissioning policy for Milford Haven fishermen, criticising local MP Nick Bennett for forcing them to become victims of "market forces" Apr '91; on a visit by Labour's shadow Welsh Secretary, criticised Nick Bennett and Geraint Howells for "throwing in the towel" over the planned closure in 1996 of Trecwn, the local Royal Naval Armament Depot July '91; after meeting consultants and others at Haverfordwest's Withybush Hospital, said: "we will attempt to find the resources to ensure that the people of Pembrokeshire will have their say in the future of their health service; it is clear that some people who supported the opt-out originally had not realised the whole truth and are now opposed to it" Sep '91; criticised Welsh Office payment of #50,000 to prepare Pembrokeshire Health Authority's trust application as "outrageous" Oct '91; his possible victory was first bruited Feb '92; with Neil

Kinnock's backing, pledged to keep open threatened RAF Brawdy air establishment Mar '92; urged a Welsh Assembly Mar '92; narrowly won seat - by 755 votes - the first Labour victor since '66 - overturning Nick Bennett's 5,700 majority with substantial tactical support from local Liberal Democrats Apr '92; in Maiden opposed burning Orimulsion at Pembroke power station without flue gas desulphurisation May '92; warned against massive local damage for small savings in closing RAF Brawdy May '92; was named to Commons Broadcasting Committee June '92; urged more open data on transport of hazardous chemicals through ports and roads of Wales July '92; opposed Sea Fish (Conservation) Bill; complained about Spanish "quota hoppers", based in Milford Haven, who fished in British waters and landed fish in Spain, providing "no benefits to the local economy" July '92; opposed Dyfed's award of school cleaning contracts to low-pay private companies Aug '92; complained about commercialisation of Pembrokeshire NHS Trust Oct '92; opposed end of search-and-rescue flights from RAF Brawdy Nov '92; complained of decline of Milford Haven, once "the hake capital of the world" but now exploited by Spaniards, with "supposedly British- registered vessels...owned by Spanish interests"; locals saw "British quota fish" "loaded by the Spanish crews" "into Spanish lorries driven by Spanish lorry drivers" Dec '92; was named to Welsh Select Committee in place of Jon Owen Jones Jan '93; said that many tankers he had seen coming into Milford Haven over 14 years had been "poorly maintained, poorly crewed and with poor officers" who often could not communicate with their crews because of language differences Jan '93; presented petition from 19,676 people objecting to removal of search-and- rescue helicopters from RAF Brawdy Feb '93; protested the threat to remove assisted area status from all of Pembrokeshire June '93; attacked the Government's plan to franchise Regional Railways in South and West Wales as "a ludicrous, unworkable plan which will cost the taxpayer more and could well see the end of the railway in Pembrokeshire" June '93; he voted for Tony Blair for Leader July '94; the Boundary Commission divided his Pembroke seat in half Oct '94; complained about tolls on Milford Haven's Cleddau Bridge Dec '94; in the split of his constituency, he announced he would contest the tougher new Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire half Feb '95; since the Royal Welch Fusiliers' base was at Brawdy, he expressed the concern of their families about their 33 hostages detained in Bosnia May '95; accusing John Major of "uncertainty based on indecision", asked the PM whether it was now "the job of the Deputy Prime Minister to make the decisions, or hasn't he decided yet?" July '95; was unanimously selected to contest the new `marginal' Carmarthen West seat Oct '95; introduced Bill to allow interest payments on overdue bills Dec '95; urged more power for NHS Ombudsman who could not investigate complaint of local family that their mother had died in their family saloon on the M4 after being refused an ambulance home after a heart operation Dec '95; complained, for his potato- growers, that the Government was winding up the Potato Marketing Board but leaving them at the mercy of state-aided Spanish, French, Italian and Greek potato-growers Jan '96; awoke to one of the 20 worst oil pollution incidents ever on his doorstep Feb '96; complained that, with no port radar working, the tanker `Sea Empress' had been allowed to enter Milford Haven only 80 minutes before low water, even before it was further mishandled, spilling 72,000 tons of crude oil Feb '96; urged Britain, as "a mature democracy", be allowed to elect its head of state Mar '96; urged a wide- ranging inquiry into the mishandling of the holed oil tanker `Sea Empress' grounded while entering Milford Haven Apr '96; voted against limiting MPs' pay increases to 3%, in favour of cutting their mileage allowances and in favour of basing pensions on annual pay of #43,000 July '96; opposed the incompetent sale of the local Navy armaments depot at Trecwn Aug '96; spoke against the closure of the local Gulf refinery Nov '96; defended the Pembrokeshire Ambulance Service against its second threat within a year Feb '97; was one of 72 candidates blacklisted as an opponent of fox-hunting in the FIELD Apr '97; was elected for his new seat of Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire by an unexpectedly large majority of 9,821

2 Copyright © Parliamentary Profile Services Ltd. 'Nick' (Nicholas) Labour CARMARTHEN WEST & SOUTH AINGER PEMBROKESHIRE '97- over his Conservative opponent, on a pro-Labour swing of 9.8%; his former Researcher, Jackie Lawrence, won Preseli, the other half of his former constituency on a swing of 11%, May '97; was named PPS to Ron Davies, Welsh Secretary June '97; voted to outlaw fox- hunting June '97; asked "why the price of beef in our supermarkets does not correspond to the low prices in the marts and why they are continuing to import products that could be sourced in Britain" Dec '97; he joined the new Labour Seaside Group of MPs to concentrate attention on low wages and poor off-season employment Dec '97; he yielded his place as the Labour representative on the British-Irish Parliamentary Body to Ireland-obsessed Tory defector Peter Temple-Morris March? '98; promised the new Labour Government would help hard-hit Welsh farmers Aug'98; as Ron Davies' PPS, he was awaiting him in Stranger's Bar when Ron decided to take the walk on Clapham Common which led to his downfall Oct '98; he was named PPS to Ron's successor as Welsh Secretary, Alun Michael Nov '98; he visited Germany to examine its devolution, as a guest of the German government Feb '99; he was made PPS to Alun Michael's successor Paul Murphy July '99; he voted to ban fox-hunting with dogs Jan '01; he retained his seat with a halved majority of 4,538 June '01; he was named a full Whip, or Lord Commissioner and named to the Administration Committee July '01; he welcomed a multi-million-pound plan to build `Bluestone', a world-class holiday village in his constituency June '02; he dismissed as a scare-story claims that asylum-seekers would be housed in St David's, in an abandoned Carmarthen psychiatric hospital July '02; he voted to ban hare- coursing Feb '03; he voted for a 100% ban on fox-hunting July '03; Born: 24 October 1949 , Sheffield Family: Son, late Richard John Wilkinson Ainger, steel industry foreman, and Marjorie Isabel (Dye); m '76 Sally (Robinson); 1d Sadie '77, who studied at Carmarthen's art college and University of Westminster; a local actress, her plea to exclude the press because her father was "in the public eye" was ignored by magistrates when she was tried in '96 for speeding, without insurance, MOT or a driving license; Education: Netherthorpe Grammar School, Staveley, Derbyshire; Occupation: The TGWU paid 20% of his election expenses '01; ex: Marine Rigger, employed by Marine and Port Services Ltd at super- tanker port of Milford Haven (TGWU Branch Secretary and Senior Shop Steward '78-92) '77-92; previously employed by offshore oil exploration agency, as Ship's Agent and Materials Controller (made redundant the day before his daughter was born) '73-77; Building Worker '71-73; Traits: Tall; lean; bearded; balding with domed head; hyperactive; flexible thinker; a non- practising Anglican; enjoys swimming (including the sea on Boxing Day in Tenby), the theatre and foreign travel; Sheffield-born, his ambition was to open the bowling for Yorkshire; in '97 had a real ale brewed in his honour, `Ainger's Delight'; Address: House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA; Ferry Lane Works, Ferry Lane, Pembroke Dock SA71 4RE (constituency office); Telephone: 0207 219 4004 (H of C); 01646 682742 (home); 01646 684404 (constituency office); 01646 698903;