Trish Law: I don't regtret standing

Louise Dicks, Gwent Gazette

PETER Law's widow has revealed she knew he had only months to live but does not regret her decision not to tell him.

Trish Law, who was expected to be endorsed as the People's Voice candidate for the Assembly seat last night (Monday), said her husband would not have changed a thing about his last 12 months and the election fight, even if he had known.

She admitted she is nervous about standing in the by-election and is only just starting to realise what she has let herself in for.

But she says it is vital that Peter's work is carried on in the best way possible.

"My family are happy to support me," Mrs Law said.

"They have said, 'What have you got yourself into now mam?' And I say, 'Your dad fought hard for that seat.'"

Mrs Law, who lives in Nantyglo, said only people who have been through what she has with Peter can know how difficult and heart-wrenching it is to find out someone so close to you is going to die.

"The consultant was checking Peter over and he caught my eye, and I could see he wanted to speak to me," she says. "That's when he said that in his opinion Peter had months, not years, left.

"Peter didn't know that, he knew he had a grade-four aggressive tumour and it doesn't get higher than that.

"I never told him and I'm glad, he carried on with life and wouldn't have changed anything if he had known.

"If he didn't work for the people, he would have died sooner."

Mrs Law, aged 52, said Peter always encouraged her to go into politics, but she would tell him, "One politician in this house is enough!"

She is the first to admit, "I'm not a politician, but I was born and bred in Blaenau Gwent, I know what the people want and I will listen to them."

Mrs Law said she learned to take a back seat through Peter's political life and sometimes said to him, "I think people think you haven't got a family. There's more to life than politics."

She said: "Peter lived for work and the greater the pressure, the happier he was.

"We would be driving somewhere and I would say something to him and he wouldn't answer and I would say, 'What are you thinking about now?', and it would be something he was going to say that night or in the Assembly.

"He always gave 100 per cent."

Mrs Law said she is familiar with the larger political issues that Peter worked on and is researching local issues.

Some of her main priorities, if she wins the election, will be affordable housing for young people, better paid jobs and tackling health problems.

"I have my own ideas," she said. "I know the problems facing young people because I have five children of my own.

"There are the bigger things but there are also the smaller things, such as someone needing a bath or shower from social services and having to wait years.

"Peter always used to say 'Everyone's problem is their own crisis' and that has been carved into me.

"It is just as important to have an independent voice as a party one, so you can ask questions that matter and not get told off. Peter gave the people 12 months of that."

Even through the chemotherapy treatment, Mrs Law said, Peter was always thinking of the people and would take his medication late on a Friday night so that he would be sick at the weekend, but "right for the week".

She said grandson Jack, born just before his grandfather's famous election win, still knocks at the door of the downstairs room where Peter was nursed towards the end of his life, and touches his face in photographs.

"He always used to visit his grandad, give him a kiss and put his head on his chest - at his age it's hard to explain where Peter had gone.

"We keep all the newspaper cuttings for him to look at when he's older."

Asked how she would deal with attacks from rival parties in the Assembly, Mrs Law said: "It's the name of the game isn't it? Hopefully I can give it back - I used to give it back to Peter!

"If they feel the need to play mucky, people will see through it."

The Assembly by-election has been confirmed for June 29 and Mrs Law said she plans to work with Mr Law's former agent, Dai Davies - who she describes as Peter's "wizard's apprentice" - for the good of the people.

Mr Davies is himself expected to be endorsed to contest the Parliamentary seat.

Gwent Gazette

Plaid Cymru selects candidates

Plaid Cymru has selected candidates for the Blaenau Gwent double by-election.

Catering manager John Price, 50, will fight the Welsh assembly seat, and student Steffan Lewis, 21, and Westminster seat.

The assembly by-election will be on 29 June, with the parliamentary by-election expected on the same day.

Other parties have also named their candidates for the by-elections caused by the death in April of independent MP and AM Peter Law.

Mr Law died last month aged 58 after suffering from cancer.

Conservatives have picked Cardiff councillor Jon Burns for the assembly seat and Margrit Williams for the parliamentary poll.

John Hopkins will stand for Labour for the assembly and Owen Smith will contest the Westminster seat.

The Liberal Democrats have chosen Abertillery councillor Steve Bard for the assembly and Amy Kitcher for the parliamentary seat.

Mr law's widow Trish will be the independent assembly candidate. She is backed by the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice group, which is also supporting Dai Davies for the Westminster seat.

Solicitor John Matthews will be Green assembly candidate, but his party will not fight the parliamentary seat.

BBC Wales

Trish Law to stand for Assembly

Martin Shipton, Western Mail

PETER LAW'S widow confirmed yesterday that she will try to inherit his National Assembly seat by standing as an independent in next month's election.

As it was announced that the double Blaenau Gwent election will be held on June 29, Trish Law visited Cardiff Bay to start clearing out her late husband's office.

She said she had made up her mind to stand after being pressed to do so by many local people.

She said, "I want to do the best I can for the people of Blaenau Gwent - the same as Peter always did. I'm approachable, I live in Blaenau Gwent, and have done all my life, our children went to schools in Blaenau Gwent."

Asked about the way her husband had been treated by the Labour Party, she said, "What they did to Peter was absolutely stinking. They weren't listening when Peter was writing to senior politicians about this matter of choice for Blaenau Gwent. Basically it wasn't about all-women shortlists, it was about the matter of choice. If it had been men or women, and Peter had lost out to Maggie Jones, he would have supported her 100%. But they thought Blaenau Gwent was an easy seat, 'we'll put her in, she'll get it'. She had goodbye parties even before she came down to Blaenau Gwent - it absolutely stank. It hurt me probably more than it hurt Peter, because of the loyal support that he'd given the Labour Party as well as the people of Blaenau Gwent over the years.

"If he had something to say that wasn't in line with what the Labour Party policy was, but he thought it was wrong for Blaenau Gwent, he still stuck his head up. When he was suspended from the Labour group for three months for being a naughty boy, he used to laugh about it. He said, 'I'll do what I want to do, what I feel is right'. And I hope I'll be doing exactly the same as Peter, because I know he'll always be behind me telling me if I'm doing it wrong."

Asked how she reacted to Labour criticism her husband had on occasions voted with the Tories to defeat the Assembly Government, Mrs Law said, "Top-up fees for Welsh students in Wales would not have been defeated if it wasn't for Peter's vote. He voted against top-up fees because he felt it was wrong what the Labour Party was trying to do. Like anything else he voted on, if it was right for Blaenau Gwent and right for Wales, he would vote with the opposition parties. He didn't really care about being accused of voting with the Conservatives - and it was always the Conservatives they mentioned, it was never Plaid Cymru or the Liberals. Rhodri Morgan needs to look back to when he decided to have the Lib Dems in his government - so don't keep throwing these dirty eggs."

Asked whether she had enough political experience to become an effective AM, Mrs Law said, "You just need to look at the Assembly. Peter used to come home very often and say, 'it's heads down, hands up in their comfort zone'. I shan't be in a comfort zone whatsoever because I would be there to represent the people of Blaenau Gwent. Peter was very disillusioned with the Labour Party in the Assembly to the point of finding them very boring. If he didn't agree with what they were doing, even when he was in the Labour Party, he would stand up and say - that's why he wasn't liked by them."

Responding to a leaflet put out by her Labour opponent, Blaenau Gwent Council leader John Hopkins, who described himself as a spokesman for Peter Law's friends in the party, Mrs Law said, "John Hopkins never ever did anything for Peter. There are quite a lot now claiming to have been Peter's best friend. They weren't. This is all PR. There is an Assembly seat to be won. They ignored Peter - they wouldn't listen to what he had to say."

Western Mail

Law's former agent targets Westminster

Former Ebbw Vale steelworks convenor Dai Davies, who was Peter Law's agent, will be standing for the vacant Westminster seat in the other by-election.

On Monday Trish Law and Mr Davies are expected to be endorsed as candidates by Blaenau Gwent People's Voice, an association set up by Peter Law supporters earlier this year.

Asked why the people of Blaenau Gwent would not be better served by a Labour MP who would be a member of the governing party, Mr Davies - himself a former secretary of Blaenau Gwent Labour Party - said, 'The most important thing for me is to represent people up to government, and not have government dictate down to the people.

'In parliamentary terms, obviously there was a recent occasion when Tony Blair missing for one vote meant the Labour Party lost that vote.

'So one voice in Parliament can be almost as powerful as it is in the Assembly.'

Asked why Blaenau Gwent People's Voice had not been registered as a political party, Mr Davies said, 'The reason is that we see party structure as being a dictatorship.

'We want to welcome people into debate, to talk, to listen, and then make informed decisions, and that the people who make those decisions are the people of the streets, the Blaenau Gwent people - not to be told what to do by a party structure.'

In contrast to Labour candidate Owen Smith, Mr Davies said he was an opponent of the private finance initiative, conceived by the last Conservative government and carried on by Labour.

He said, 'If we can't fund what we need through the public purse, we have trouble. There are billions of pounds swirling around in war chests.

'Let's spend the money instead where it's needed - on health, education, employment.'

Western Mail

Law supporters angry at Labour leaflet

Louise Dicks, Gwent Gazette

PETER Law's supporters are furious over a tribute made by John Hopkins in a Labour campaign leaflet.

The Assembly candidate has begun his campaign to regain the seat for Labour and in a leaflet, entitled Putting Blaenau Gwent First, he said: "I will remember Peter Law for his decades of public service on behalf of the people of our area.

"Peter worked hard as a local councillor, serving for 30 years, and also as a founding member of the new Welsh Assembly, where he served as a member of the very first cabinet.

"Whatever our political differences over the past year, I regarded Peter as a valued member of the Labour movement and I speak for his many friends in our party when I say we will miss him tremendously."

Peter's former agent Dai Davies said he is sure Peter is having a "chuckle" about it.

"The tributes are being made 12 months too late," he said.

"Peter was a wonderful servant and representative of Blaenau Gwent, and after the issue over which we fell out with the Labour Party, they basically ignored him.

"It is patronising and hypocritical, and is the mark of a party that will do anything to save the Blaenau Gwent seat.

"Peter's supporters see it as nothing but hypocritical."

John Hopkins responded to these comments by telling the Gazette: "I am really serious about the recognition. It is a genuine tribute and nothing to do with one-upmanship.

Gwent Gazette

My promise to the people

The widow of Peter Law yesterday pledged to carry his banner as the new people's champion.

As she announced she wants to stand for the Assembly seat left vacant by her husband's death she said: "I will be listening to people.

It's all about the people at the end of the day."

In later editions of the Argus yesterday, we revealed that Mrs Law, 52, would be seeking to stand and that her husband's former election agent Dai Davies is aiming to stand for the parliamentary seat, both asking the 100-strong Blaenau Gwent People's Voice group for their endorsement on Monday.

Mrs Law said:"I want to stand to give voters choice," she said. "I know I would have Peter's support. I just want to carry on what Peter did."

South Wales Argus

Parties pick by-election hopefuls

Labour candidates Owen Smith and John Hopkins

Labour and Conservatives have selected more candidates for the Blaenau Gwent double by-election.
Owen Smith, ex-special adviser to the former Welsh and Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy, will fight the Westminster seat for Labour.

Tories picked Margrit Williams - who works for ex-Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind - for Westminster, and Cardiff councillor Jon Burns for the assembly.

The by-election follows the death of independent MP and AM Peter Law.

Mr Smith, an ex-BBC producer now working for a pharmaceutical company, said Labour faced a battle to win back the trust of local people.

Labour lost the seat, which was its safest in Wales, to Mr Law at the 2005 general election. Mr Law turned Labour's 19,000 majority into a 9,000 majority of his own after he was expelled for fighting the party over all-women shortlists used to pick the parliamentary candidate.

Mr Smith said: "I do think we lost trust with people last time round. Let's not make any bones about that - that is undoubtedly true."

"But I am confident we can win back the people in Blaenau Gwent because I am confident they are more interested in the future than they are in the past.

An assembly by-election is also taking place in Blaenau Gwent following the death of Mr Law from a brain tumour last month. John Hopkins will be the Labour candidate for the Cardiff Bay seat.


Conservative candidates Jon Burns and Margrit Williams

Conservative parliamentary candidate Ms Williams said: "In the last 12 months the people of Blaenau Gwent have shown that they will no longer tolerate being taken for granted by the Labour Party.

"Now, more than ever, they need an effective voice listening to them, understanding their concerns and acting on their behalf."


Liberal Democrat candidates Steve Bard and Amy Kitcher

The Liberal Democrats have chosen Amy Kitcher to fight the parliamentary seat with Abertillery councillor Steve Bard contesting the assembly.

Plaid Cymru will confirm their candidates next Monday, and the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice group is expected to endorse candidates who will stand as independents.

BBC Wales