Constituency : Montgomery 1983-97
Alex avenged Emlyn Hooson's defeat by ousting the Tories from Montgomery after one term.
Alex was the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland. He was educated at Epsom College and King's College, London. He became a barrister. He stood for East Flintshire in the two 1974 elections and 1979.
Alex did not hide his dislike of Paddy Ashdown. He worked with the Welsh Labour party on Welsh devolution prior to 1997. He also became the first parliamentary champion of the rights of transgender people.
Alex stepped down in 1997 to further his legal career. In 1999, he was created a peer and two years later was appointed the government's independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation. He became President of the Howard League for Penal Reform in 2006. He was scathing in his opposition to the coalition government's plans for means testing suspects in police stations . He has been involved in some high profile cases from Barry George to Paul Burrell.
In 2016 Alex resigned from the Liberal Democrat party, largely over national security issues and his support for the so-called Snooper's Charter. He now sits as a crossbencher.
He is now 71.
No comments:
Post a Comment