Gwyther forced to step down
24 July 2000
Gwyther forced to step down
by FWi staff
WELSH Agriculture Secretary Christine Gwyther has been sacked.
Ms Gwyther was dropped by Welsh First Secretary Rhodri Morgan on Saturday (22 July) evening. She is replaced by her deputy, Carwyn Jones.
Mr Jones will now accompany Mr Morgan to the Royal Welsh Show which opens in Builth Wells on Monday (24 July).
Announcing Ms Gwythers departure, Mr Morgan said it was his decision and she had not resigned, reports the BBC.
“It would be quite wrong to think this implies any criticism of her,” he added. “It is just that Carwyn is the right person to do the job now.”
Controversy has dogged Ms Gwyther, who is a vegetarian, from the day she took up the farming portfolio in May last year.
Farmers Union of Wales leaders walked out their first meeting with her soon afterwards, claiming that a vegetarian could not represent their interests.
She has faced three censure motions, the first last October when she was accused of falsely raising farmers hopes of introducing a calf processing scheme.
European farm commissioner Franz Fischler said a request for such a scheme could only come from Westminster and not from Wales.
The beleaguered secretary faced further problems in May when a GM trial went ahead in Flintshire without assembly approval.
She was accused of failing to act to create a GM-free Wales and faced another motion of censure which was eventually defeated.
In the same month Ms Gwyther was branded “a disgrace” by farmers leaders after saying that farmings contribution to the Welsh economy was “close to zero”.
Mr Morgan insisted Ms Gwythers sacking was “a hiccup” in her career and that he had “tremendous admiration” for what she had achieved in the job.
Ms Gwyther said: “Whilst I am naturally disappointed to be replaced, I wish my successor well in what is sometimes a difficult but often rewarding brief.”
Mr Jones, AM for Bridgend, said he was “absolutely thrilled” to be appointed.
A spokesman for the Farmers Union of Wales welcomed the departure of Ms Gwyther saying she should never have been appointed in the first place.
Assembly Conservative leader Nick Bourne, a fierce critic of Ms Gwyther, said the timing of the move was “cynical”.
- Farmer fury at Gwyther pronouncement FWi, 26 May, 2000
- Gwyther calls for GM-free Wales, FWi, 28 February, 2000
- Gwyther refuses to quit, FWi, 20 October, 1999
- Welsh farm minister wont quit job, FWi, 21 May, 1999
- The Guardian 24 July, 2000 page 2
- The Independent 24 July, 2000 page 2