Peter Hain
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Peter Hain was appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales in June 2007, as part of Gordon Brown's first Cabinet.
He was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to June 2007 and has been Secretary of State for Wales since 2002.
Previously, he was made Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry in 2001 and became Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) later that year. Mr Hain was also Minister of State at the FCO from 1999 to 2001, and a junior minister at the former Welsh Office from 1997 to 1999.
He is a former head of research with the Union of Communication Workers and a former chairman of the Tribune newspaper.
Born in Nairobi and brought up in South Africa, Mr Hain was educated at Pretoria Boys High School, University of London and Sussex University. He achieved international prominence as a result of his work in the anti-apartheid movement.