Interim Morgan Government

The Interim Morgan Government of Wales was formed on 9 February 2000 by Rhodri Morgan following the resignation of Alun Michael as First Secretary,[1] which was pre-empted by a vote of no-confidence by Plaid Cymru.

Interim Morgan Government
2nd devolved government of Wales
9 February 2000 - 16 October 2000
Date formed	9 February 2000
Date dissolved	16 October 2000
People and organisations
Monarch	Elizabeth II
First Minister	Rhodri Morgan
Member party	Labour
Status in legislature	Minority 28 / 60 (47%)
Opposition party	Plaid Cymru
Opposition leader	Dafydd Wigley Ieuan Wyn Jones
History
Legislature term(s)	1st National Assembly for Wales
Predecessor	Michael government
Successor	First Morgan government

Rhodri Morgan was named as Acting First Secretary on 9 February and confirmed as the permanent First Secretary on 15 February 2000.[2] This Ministry ran until Morgan formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats in October 2000.

Between February and October 2000 Rhodri Morgan's Labour Party had 28 of the Assembly's 60 seats. The six Liberal Democrat seats later provided a comfortable majority.

This government was always viewed as temporary and Labour had mooted looking for a coalition partner following their persevered poor showing in the 1999 election.[3]

Developments quickly occurred during the autumn of 2000 culminating in Tom Middlehurst resigning as Secretary for post-16 education on 9 October claiming he could not “contemplate sitting down at the Cabinet table with the Liberal Democrats”.[4]

A new coalition government (officially referred to as the Coalition Partnership) was officially announced on 5 October 2000 with policy details emerging the day later. Cabinet Ministers were then appointed on 16 October and Deputies on 17 October. That government lasted until the 2003 election.

All job titles and dates are taken from the History of The National Assembly section of their website[2]

Cabinet

Office	Name		Term	Party
First Secretary of Wales and Secretary for Economic Development		Rhodri Morgan*	9 February - 16 October	Labour
Minister for Assembly Business		Andrew Davies*	22 February - 16 October	Labour
Finance Secretary		Edwina Hart**	22 February - 16 October	Labour
Secretary for Post 16 Education and Training		Tom Middlehurst***	22 February - 9 October	Labour
Minister for Health and Social Services		Jane Hutt*	22 February - 16 October	Labour
Secretary for Education and Children		Rosemary Butler***	22 February - 16 October	Labour
Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development		Christine Gwyther	22 February - 23 July	Labour
		Carwyn Jones**	23 July - 16 October	Labour
Secretary for Local Government and Housing		Peter Law***	22 February - 16 October	Labour
Secretary for Environment, Planning and Transport		Sue Essex**	22 February - 16 October	Labour
Office holders given special provisions to attend Cabinet:
Chief Whip		Karen Sinclair	22 February - 16 October	Labour

* Indicates that the individual kept the same or similar job in the next government.
** Indicates that the individual was moved to a new job in the next government.
*** Indicates that the individual was either sacked or quit and held no ministerial role in the next government.

Deputy Secretaries

Deputy Secretaries prior to the enactment of the Government of Wales Act 2006 were not officially part of the Government, were not paid and received limited official support.

Office	Name		Term	Party
Deputy Secretary for Health and Social Services		Alun Pugh**	23 February 2000 - 17 October 2000	Labour
Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Local Government and Environment		Carwyn Jones	23 February 2000 - 23 July 2000	Labour
		Delyth Evans*	24 July 2000 - 17 October 2000	Labour
Deputy Secretary for Education and the Economy		Christine Chapman***	23 February 2000 - 17 October 2000	Labour

* Indicates that the individual kept the same or similar job in the next government.
** Indicates that the individual was moved to a new job in the next government.
*** Indicates that the individual was either sacked or quit and held no ministerial role in the next government.

References

1. "Acting Welsh first secretary announced". 9 February 2000. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
2. "First Assembly". National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
3. "Labour seeking Welsh partner". BBC Wales. 7 May 1999. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
4. "Welsh cabinet member resigns". The Times. 10 October 2000. Retrieved 13 December 2018.