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Janice Gregory

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Janice Gregory
Member of the Welsh Assembly
for Ogmore
In office
6 May 1999 – 6 April 2016
Preceded byNew Assembly
Succeeded byHuw Irranca-Davies
Majority9,576 (47.3%)
Personal details
Born (1955-01-10) 10 January 1955 (age 69)
Treorchy, Wales
Political partyWelsh Labour
SpouseMike Gregory
RelationsSir Raymond Powell MP (father)
OccupationPolitical Secretary (for Sir Raymond Powell)
WebsiteWelsh Labour

Janice Gregory (née Powell; born 10 January 1955) is a Welsh Labour politician, who represented the constituency of Ogmore from the time the National Assembly for Wales was established in 1999 to the election of 2016. Her main contribution to the Assembly has been through chairing the Social Justice and Regeneration Committee.

Background

Gregory was born in Treorchy, the daughter of Raymond Powell, who was Labour Party Member of Parliament for Ogmore from 1979. She was educated at Bridgend Grammar School for Girls and worked as Constituency Secretary to her father from 1991, while also being active in the local Constituency Labour Party in which she was Women's Officer and Chair of the Ogmore Women's Forum. Several other members of the family were also active in Labour politics.

Political Career

In 1999 Gregory was selected as Labour candidate for the Ogmore constituency, the same constituency as her father, for the 1999 Welsh assembly election. She easily picked up the seat and was appointed as a Labour group whip in the Assembly. Together with three other whips, Gregory resigned this position in February 2000 after Alun Michael resigned as First Minister. It was speculated that the three, being loyal to Michael, believed there was a plot against him, and were unwilling to work for Chief Whip Andrew Davies, who they felt was behind this plot. Shortly after she announced her support for Rhodri Morgan to replace Alun Michael.

Gregory rebelled against the Labour administration in June 2000 when she voted in favour of a building a landmark headquarters building for the Assembly. She called on former cabinet minister Ron Davies to resign when it was revealed he had applied for jobs outside politics without informing the Labour leadership.

When her father suddenly died in December 2001, Gregory immediately declined to seek selection to follow him. It was uncertain whether Gregory would be reselected herself, but she managed to survive and was re-elected in the 2003 election with a 6,504 majority.

In December 2005, she was cleared of breaches of the Assembly Code of Conduct, after alleging that a GP in her constituency using an 0870 national rate number was doing so to make "a fast buck". However, she was deemed to have failed to conduct herself in a proper manner.

After her re-election she was made Chair of the Social Justice and Regeneration Committee. She was described by the Western Mail as a "well below par performer by our reckoning" and given a rating of 4 marks out of ten in its assessment of the Assembly Members at the end of the 2003–07 term. However, she increased her majority in the 2007 election.

In December 2009, she was appointed to the role of Chief Whip by Carwyn Jones. She was re-elected at the 2011 Welsh Assembly election with a further increased majority.

She announced her intent to stand down at the 2016 Welsh Assembly election in 2015. Huw Irranca-Davies was selected to replace her as the Labour candidate for Ogmore. She in turn took his previous role as Labour's campaign co-ordinator for the 2016 Assembly election.

References

  1. "National Assembly for Wales - Assembly Member details - Janice Gregory". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  2. Walters, Brian (4 May 1999). "Bypass plans may get a second chance. Welsh secretary promises fresh look at bottleneck". South Wales Evening Post. p. 8. Retrieved 18 November 2024 – via Nexis.
  3. "Labour whips quit after Michael resigns". BBC News. 11 February 2000. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  4. "Whips resign alleging a plot". South Wales Evening Post. 11 February 2000. p. 5. Retrieved 18 November 2024 – via Nexis.
  5. "Whips quit in protest at 'plot'". The Times. 11 February 2000. Retrieved 18 November 2024 – via Nexis.
  6. Waugh, Paul (12 February 2000). "Politics: I will not be Blair's Welsh Puppet, says Morgan". The Independent. p. 8. Retrieved 18 November 2024 – via Nexis.
  7. Paul Starling, "Glasshouse gets £30m go-ahead", Daily Mirror, 22 June 2000.
  8. Paul Starling, "Wrong Davies! Ron faces demands to resign after 'lies' over his bid to quit politics", Daily Mirror, 9 July 2001.
  9. Phillip Nifield, "Candidates will be facing by-election", South Wales Echo, 10 December 2001.
  10. "AMs all set for second contest". South Wales Evening Post. 20 February 2002. p. 31 – via Nexis.
  11. "Gregory fighting for political survival". Wales On Sunday. 20 January 2002. Retrieved 20 November 2024 – via WalesOnline.
  12. "AM Cleared over attack on surgery". WalesOnline. 9 December 2005. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  13. "COMPLAINT AGAINST JANICE GREGORY AM" (PDF). senedd.wales. 7 December 2005. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  14. "Second Assembly - Key Events". National Assembly for Wales. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  15. Martin Shipton, Paul Carey, "End of term report ... we score each of our AMs out of 10", Western Mail, 24 April 2007.
  16. "Third Assembly - Key Events". National Assembly for Wales. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  17. Powys, Betsan (10 December 2009). "The Cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  18. "VOTE 2011 - Ogmore". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  19. "Labour MP Huw Irranca-Davies selected to fight assembly seat". BBC News. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  20. "Labour names Gregory as election campaign co-ordinator". BBC News. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2024.

Offices held

Senedd
New office Assembly Member for Ogmore
1999 – 2016 		Succeeded byHuw Irranca-Davies
Preceded byCarl Sargeant Chief Whip
2009–2016 		Succeeded byJane Hutt
Members of the National Assembly for Wales 2011–2016
4th Assembly
Labour (30)
Conservatives (14)
Plaid Cymru (11)
Liberal Democrats (5)
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