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Thomas Middlehurst (born 25 June 1936) is a British retired politician who served as Leader of Flintshire County Council from 1996 to 1999 and Assembly Secretary for Education and Training in the National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2000. A member of the Welsh Labour, he was Assembly Member (AM) for Alyn and Deeside from 1999 until his retirement in 2003.
Middlehurst was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England. He was educated at Ormskirk Grammar School, Wigan Technical College and Liverpool Polytechnic, and in his early life lived in Skelmersdale. He was an engineering apprentice from 1952 to 1957 and worked as an engineer at the National Coal Board from 1957 to 1963, before working as an engineer and manager in the private sector until 1971. In 1971, he moved to Wales and became a local government officer for Flintshire County Council and its successor Clwyd County Council, remaining in this job until 1993.
In 1963, Middlehurst was elected as a Labour councillor for Skelmersdale Urban District Council, stepping down in 1968. In Wales, he was elected to Alyn and Deeside District Council in 1986 and Clwyd County Council in 1993 before becoming the first leader of the re-established Flintshire County Council in 1996, where he implemented council tax increases and cut local services to balance the budget. He also fought to prevent the closure of Theatr Clwyd and persuaded Terry Hands to become its director. From 1997 to 1999, he also chaired the Welsh Local Government Association.
In the first election to the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, Middlehurst was elected as AM for Alyn and Deeside. He was appointed to the cabinet of First Secretary Alun Michael as Assembly Secretary for Education and Training. In this role, he implemented free entry for children to galleries and museums, reformed the post-16 system of education and training and trialled a welfare scheme for benefit claimants in Newport, Torfaen and Monmouthshire. He also intervened in the Wales Millennium Centre project to keep government spending under control. He remained in his post under Michael's successor Rhodri Morgan until October 2000, when he resigned in protest of Labour's coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats. He retired at the 2003 assembly election after becoming disillusioned with the politics of the National Assembly.
In 1971 Middlehurst moved to Wales, settling in Ewloe, Flintshire. He worked as a local government officer for Flintshire County Council and its successor Clwyd County Council until 1993. In the 1987 local elections, he was elected as one of two councillors for Ewloe in Alyn and Deeside District Council alongside Conservative councillor P. Bernie. Middlehurst was re-elected alongside Bernie in the 1991 local elections and also served as the chair of the council's housing committee. He was also elected unopposed as the councillor for Sealand in Clwyd County Council at the 1993 local elections, where he went on to chair the personnel committee.
Middlehurst became Leader of Flintshire County Council on a background of government spending cuts for the county of Flintshire. This meant the council had to raise an extra £3 million in 1996 to provide services at the same standard as provided by its predecessors. To avoid cuts to education and social services, Middlehurst announced a 25% rise in Council Tax and the creation of a new advisory service for Welfare benefit and welfare rights in March. He chose to cut other services to balance the budget. The financial issues also threatened the future of Theatr Clwyd. As council leader, Middlehurst fought to prevent the theatre's closure. In May 1997, he persuaded Terry Hands to become its director and draw up a plan to secure its future, helping to successfully save the theatre.
In December 1996, Middlehurst said he was considering another rise in council tax, this time by 20%, and cutting spending by 8% to maintain services for 1997. However, the government blocked the council from implementing any more council tax increases in that year; as a result the decision was made to cut more services instead. By February 1997, spending on all services including education had been cut by 8%. In December 1997, Middlehurst announced that the government had allowed the council to implement more tax rises, meaning that services would not need to be cut in 1998 and 1999 like in the previous two years. In May 1998, the Audit Commission published its report on the financial performance of local authorities in Wales. Flintshire was judged to have performed above average in most areas while also underperforming in other areas, particularly in the levels of funding for school pupils.
On 4 December 1998, Middlehurst was shortlisted for Labour's prospective candidacy in the constituency of Alyn and Deeside in the first election to the soon-to-be established National Assembly for Wales. His candidacy was confirmed on 18 December. At the time, he refused to be drawn on his future as Leader of Flintshire County Council should he be elected to the National Assembly.
At the election, Labour on a national level won the most seats in the assembly but fell short of securing an absolute majority. Labour leader Alun Michael mooted a potential coalition with the Liberal Democrats which would give his administration a majority in the assembly. Middlehurst spoke out against a coalition and declared his support for a Labour minority administration; he said coalitions "give too much power to small parties so I don't think we will let the tail wag the dog." In the event, Michael chose to dismiss a coalition and after being confirmed as First Secretary of Wales formed a Labour minority administration. The Labour group in the National Assembly organised itself into three factions, including a faction loyal to Michael, a faction of Welsh devolution and autonomists, and a third non-aligned faction which later became loyal to the devolutionist first secretary Rhodri Morgan following Michael's resignation in 2000; Middlehurst aligned himself with the third faction.
In addition to Middlehurst, the cabinet also had another education secretary in Rosemary Butler. Butler was appointed Assembly Secretary for Education and Childcare, a post which included responsibility for education to the age of 16. Although intended to have separate responsibilities, it was soon discovered that part of Butler's education portfolio inadvertently extended into post-16 education policy, leaving her and Middlehurst with overlapping responsibilities for policies relating to qualifications and the curriculum. Middlehurst's portfolio also overlapped with Rhodri Morgan's Economic Development portfolio in areas relating to employment and training and Peter Law's Environment and Local Government portfolio in areas relating to built heritage preservation. Middlehurst viewed these overlapping responsibilities as "an opportunity … to consider major issues affecting Wales in a holistic rather than isolated way". In February 2000, official responsibility for Youth service was also transferred from Butler's portfolio to Middlehurst's. Middlehurst and Butler took office at a time of hostility in Wales toward the education policies introduced in England, and they avoided implementing any of the same policies which were being introduced there. Middlehurst and the Post-16 Education and Training Committee drew up reforms to reorganise the system of post-16 education and training in Wales. The reforms included abolishing training and enterprise councils and the Further Education Funding Council and replacing them with a new National Council for Education and Training which would administer and fund education. Other reforms included transferring responsibility for local provision from local education authorities to new Consortium, and encouraging colleges and schools to cooperate more. Middlehurst said these reforms revolved around reducing competition between schools and colleges. The reforms were also presented as a way to improve standards in the system and make it more accessible. The reforms were controversial with Teaching Union; there were fears that there would be cuts in sixth form funding to increase funding for further education, and leading trade unionists claimed that the new community consortiums would be more unreliant and costly. The unions also argued that local education authorities should continue to hold an important role in funding sixth forms. The reforms were endorsed by the National Assembly in February 2000 and made law in July 2000.
In November 1999, Middlehurst launched a trial programme for welfare benefits called ONE in Newport, Torfaen and Monmouthshire with Labour MP David Hanson. The programme entitled benefit claimants in these areas to personalised welfare support and advice. In the same month, he also announced a £58 million increase in funding for post-16 education and a £52 million increase in funding for the arts, culture and sport for 2000 and 2001. These increases in spending would pay for his policy of introducing free entry for children to museums and galleries operated by the National Museum of Wales, a change which came into effect from April 2000. The spending increases would also pay for new apprenticeships and contribute to new financial support for children from poorer backgrounds. In September 1999, reports that the completion of the Wales Millennium Centre would be delayed by nine months to 2002 led to calls for Middlehurst to clarify the timetable for its opening. In October, Middlehurst confirmed that the centre would not be opened until 2002 because of an unexpected delay in financial agreements and planning permissions which were required before the project could continue as planned. A year later, the expected costs of the project were projected to increase from the original budget of £70.2 million to an estimated £85 million. To keep government spending under control, Middlehurst intervened and enforced a £75 million cap on spending for the project. He also requested a review of the existing plans for the project. Shortly after, the owner of the land on which the project was to be built put it up for sale, making the project's future uncertain. Middlehurst was consequently blamed in the press for the issues surrounding the project until his resignation in October 2000, even though Cardiff Council had made an offer to purchase the land to save the project in September.
On the formation of Morgan's new administration in February 2000, Middlehurst remained in the cabinet as Assembly Secretary for Education and Training. Morgan decided against making any instant changes to the cabinet following Michael's resignation but did mention the possibility of changes later in the year, some of which he suggested could be the result of potential future deals with other parties. By July, he had sacked Christine Gwyther. This prompted speculation over the potential dismissals of Middlehurst and Rosemary Butler later in the year, as it was possible that Morgan would formally merge their education portfolios in the cabinet. Over the next few months, Morgan negotiated a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrat leader Mike German. This would give his administration a working majority in the assembly. The deal was announced on 5 October and entitled the Liberal Democrats to two cabinet seats and several policy concessions including significant changes to education. Middlehurst later said he was concerned with these concessions.
Middlehurst resigned from the cabinet in protest of the coalition agreement on 9 October. He said he did "not accept the need for the Labour administration to work with the fourth largest party in the assembly the". He explained that he found the coalition unacceptable, as he did not agree with "significant issues" in its new policy programme and disagreed with the idea of the Liberal Democrats having two cabinet seats; he said he had "never envisaged" them serving in the cabinet and said it was "too high a price to pay" for a majority. He also said he was unable to trust them as political allies after they had worked with the other opposition parties to censure Christine Gwyther and force Alun Michael's resignation, the latter of which he described as the "ultimate act of treachery". Middlehurst's resignation was generally perceived as a move made to avoid his widely anticipated dismissal from the cabinet, as the coalition agreement also included the merger of Middlehurst's education portfolio with Butler's. Butler was indeed sacked not long after, with Jane Davidson appointed to manage a now combined education portfolio as Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning.
In December 2001, Middlehurst announced that he would retire at the next assembly election in 2003. He said he had grown disillusioned with the politics of the assembly since his resignation from the cabinet, stating: "I don't like the politics of this place". He criticised the opposition parties in the assembly for forcing Alun Michael's resignation and said they had harmed the assembly's reputation with the Welsh public, calling their behaviour in the assembly "an absolute disgrace". He also reaffirmed his disapproval of Labour's coalition with the Liberal Democrats, stating that it had given the latter "influence and power disproportionate to their number". He said this was the result of the assembly's "failed" proportionally representative electoral system, which he claimed to have opposed, and added that his experience in the assembly had justified his support for the first-past-the-post electoral system. Other stated reasons for his retirement included the "demanding" journey from his constituency to the location of the assembly in Cardiff and personal issues relating to his family. For the remainder of his term, Middlehurst said he would continue to support Rhodri Morgan as first secretary and remain "committed to devolution".
As intended, Middlehurst retired from the National Assembly at the 2003 assembly election. He was succeeded as AM for Alyn and Deeside by Carl Sargeant of the Labour Party. He has provided political commentary since his retirement. After Labour fell short of a majority in the 2007 assembly election, Middlehurst opined that it was likely that Labour would seek another coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats. Less likely, in his opinion, was an informal deal with Plaid Cymru. Labour went on to form a One Wales which lasted until 2011. In a letter to WalesOnline following the 2009 Welsh Labour leadership election, Middlehurst voiced his opposition to a proposed minister for North Wales. He advised the new party leader Carwyn Jones against acting on this proposal, as he believed introducing such a role would be a "token gesture that could prove extremely divisive" and "exacerbate the perceived divide" between the North and the perceivingly South-dominated National Assembly. In 2011, he expressed concern over the Welsh Government's policy to appoint unelected commissioners to intervene in troubled local authorities and administer them, stating that these commissioners had no democratic legitimacy.
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