Alun Cairns

Alun Cairns
Official portrait, 2020
Secretary of State for Wales
In office
19 March 2016 – 6 November 2019
Prime Minister
Preceded byStephen Crabb
Succeeded bySimon Hart
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
15 July 2014 – 19 March 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byStephen Crabb
Succeeded byGuto Bebb
Member of Parliament
for Vale of Glamorgan
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byJohn Smith
Succeeded byKanishka Narayan
Member of the Welsh Assembly
for South Wales West
In office
6 May 1999 – 6 May 2011
Preceded byAssembly established
Succeeded bySuzy Davies
Personal details
Born (1970-07-30) 30 July 1970 (age 54)
Swansea, Wales
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Emma Elizabeth Turner
(m. 1996)
Children1
Residence(s)London, England
Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
Alma materUniversity of Wales, Newport
WebsiteOfficial website

Alun Hugh Cairns[1] (born 30 July 1970) is a Welsh Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Vale of Glamorgan from 2010 to 2024.[2] He served as Secretary of State for Wales from 2016 to 2019.

He was previously a member of the National Assembly for Wales for the South Wales West region from 1999 to 2011. Elected to the British House of Commons at the 2010 general election, he resigned[3] as Secretary of State for Wales in November 2019, after claims he had known about a former aide's role in the "sabotage" of a rape trial.[4] Cairns said that he did not know the details of the case and in December 2019 he was cleared of breaking the ministerial code.[5]

  1. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8747.
  2. ^ "UK general election results 2024: live tracker". The Guardian. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Alun Cairns' resignation letter in full". 6 November 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  4. ^ Jones, Teleri Glyn (5 November 2019). "Minister must quit – rape trial 'sabotage' victim". Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Ex-Welsh secretary Alun Cairns cleared over rape trial row". BBC News. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2021.