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Edwina Hart, MBE (born 26 April 1957) is a Welsh Labour Assembly Member details – Edwina Hart AM, National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 26 March 2016. politician who represented the constituency of Gower from the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales (Senedd) in 1999 until 2016. Hart served in the Welsh Government as a cabinet minister for the full 17 years she was an AM including as Minister for Health and Social Services from 2007 to 2011 and as Minister for Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science from 2011 to 2016.
She was the runner up to Carwyn Jones in the 2009 Welsh Labour leadership election.
She was re-elected to the Second Assembly in 2003, increasing her majority to 5688 (+8.2%) with 43.60% of the vote. After the election she took on the newly created Social Justice portfolio and became the Assembly's first ever Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration Minister, whose responsibilities include community safety, youth justice, police relations, fire service, alcohol and drug abuse, social economy, anti-poverty, housing, social housing, the voluntary sector, issues relating to asylum and immigration, liaison for armed forces in Wales, veterans, regeneration of communities, and development.
In 2004, in her role as Minister for Social Justice, Hart commissioned an independent report on charity All Wales Ethnic Minority Association's projects. The report stated no new projects should be funded until AWEMA demonstrated improved project and performance management, and that as a result AWEMA should be graded "high risk" by as a publicly funded institute.
She was once again re-elected to the Third Assembly in May 2007 with a reduced majority of 1192 (34.2% of the vote) and was appointed Minister for Health and Social Services (31 May 2007). She retained this position when the coalition government of Labour and Plaid Cymru was announced on 19 July.
In October 2009, Hart announced that she would stand for leadership of the Labour party in Wales after Rhodri Morgan's retirement, on a commitment to carry on the "Clear Red Water" of Rhodri Morgan. Whilst she secured backing from a number of Unions and prominent figures such as Finance Minister Andrew Davies, Hart finished second in the Leadership contest. She retained her position as Minister for Health in the cabinet appointed by First Minister Carwyn Jones.
Hart controversially ruled out a review of NHS spending in Wales on 12 November 2009, declining Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams request to review how £1 billion has been spent on NHS services, following evidence to the Welsh Assembly's Finance Committee that claimed £1 billion was 'wasted' in the Welsh NHS each year. BBC – Betsan's Blog: Come again? Row over 'no' to NHS cash probe BBC News, 12 November 2009. Moved and formatted 8 April 2016
In September 2010, Hart was accused by Welsh Liberal Democrats of withholding a consultants' report that criticised the leadership of the NHS by the Welsh Government.
Hart retired at the 2011 election and was succeeded by fellow Labour AM Rebecca Evans.
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