Jane Hutt


Jane Elizabeth Hutt MS is a Welsh Labour Party politician and Chief Whip in the Welsh Government. Hutt has represented the Vale of Glamorgan constituency since the Senedd Cymru was established in 1999.
She served as a Minister continually from May 1999 until November 2017, making her at the time the longest serving Labour Government Minister in history, before being succeeded by former First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones. She was reappointed to government by First Minister Mark Drakeford in December 2018 as Chief Whip, a role now classified as a junior ministerial position. In mid-2019 she again became the longest serving Minister in the cabinet.

Early years

Born in Epsom, Surrey, on 15 December 1949, Hutt's Welsh-speaking grandparents are from North Wales, and her father was the pathologist Michael Hutt. Hutt graduated from the University of Kent, Canterbury in 1970 with a BA, gained a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work at the London School of Economics in 1972 and an MSc at the University of Bristol in 1995.

Professional career

Hutt was one of the founder members of Welsh Women's Aid, a feminist organisation campaigning on behalf of women who are victims of domestic violence. She was appointed as a coordinator of the group in January 1978.
Hutt held non-political appointments as director of the equal opportunities organisation Chwarae Teg and non-executive director of the Cardiff Community Health Care Trust. Member New Deal Task Force. School Governor. Welsh member on the New Opportunities Fund.

Political career

Hutt was a councillor on South Glamorgan County Council and a former vice-chair of the Social Services Committee. She unsuccessfully stood for election to the British Parliament in 1983 in Cardiff North.
Hutt was elected to the Senedd Cymru in 1999 and has been re-elected at every subsequent election. She served as a government minister for a total of 18 years, 5 months, 23 days from 12 May 1999 to 3 November 2017 making her the then longest serving Labour Minister in UK history. Her record was surpassed in 2018 by Carwyn Jones who served a total of 6,868 days.
She made her first appearance on the back benches on 14 November 2017.
She again returned to the government as Chief Whip on 13 December 2018.

Ministerial Roles

Following the Assembly's creation in 1999 she immediately became Health Minister. She remained in post until January 2005 when she was removed from the position, following strong criticism over long hospital waiting lists. An independent report showed that even though waiting list time targets were higher than in England and Scotland, Hutt had still failed to meet them. As a result, she faced criticism from all the major political parties in Wales, with the strongest coming from within her own party. As a result, her position became untenable, as some became worried that the problems could even damage the case for further Welsh devolution.
She became Minister for Assembly Business and Chief Whip, with additional responsibility for Openness in Government; Communications Strategy; co-ordinating Government policy in relation to children and Equality of Opportunity. In the first Cabinet of the Third Assembly, she was appointed Minister for Budget and Assembly Business. In the coalition, Cabinet announced on 19 July 2007 she became Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills.
She left the government during the November 2017 reshuffle, but returned as Chief Whip thirteen months later under new First Minister Mark Drakeford. As of 2020 she is the only MS to have served under all four First Secretaries/Ministers.

Personal life

In July 1984 Hutt married Labour councillor Michael Trickey, they have two daughters.

Offices held