Alun Cairns

Alun Cairns has been the Conservative MP for Vale of Glamorgan since 2010. His website states that he “first became aware of politics whilst growing up in a deprived community near Swansea”. Prior to entering parliament, Cairns was a member of the Welsh Assembly – representing South West Wales from 1999. In parliament, Cairns has been parliamentary under-secretary for the Wales office, Lord commissioner at HM treasury and secretary of state for Wales. He caused controversy in this role when he announced that the Severn bridge would be renamed the Prince of Wales bridge to mark the 60th anniversary of Prince Charles becoming the Prince of Wales. Cairns backed Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative party leadership election, saying that he thought Johnson was “the best person to be prime minister.” In October 2020, Cairns questioned the “one-size-fits-all approach” of the Welsh Covid-19 lockdown, stating, “retailers, hairdressers, personal service providers, beauticians and all those sorts of businesses have been closed, irrespective of the exceptionally low rate. Does that make sense?” Cairns is chairman of the APPG for energy security, co-chairman of the APPG for fintech and vice-chairman of the APPG for trans-Atlantic trade.