In 1999, Francis became a
special adviser to
Paul Murphy, the
Secretary of State for Wales; Murphy worked in this position until 2000. He was re-elected in May 2005. He was the chair of the
Welsh Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010; In December 2004 and October 2005, he voted in favour of the
Identity Cards Bill. In March 2002, he voted to ban the hunting of wild mammals with dogs. He voted in favour of the
NHS foundation trust proposal. He also voted in favour of allowing unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples to adopt, and in favour of the
Civil Partnership Bill. Francis voted in favour of the
replacement of the Trident system. He voted in favour of adding clauses to a bill that allow the Secretary of State to detain indefinitely, pending deportation, anyone he or she suspects is a terrorist, even if the law forbids that person's deportation from ever taking place. He voted against only allowing people detained at a police station to be fingerprinted and searched for an identifying birthmark if it is in connection with a terrorism investigation. He voted against changing the text in the
Prevention of Terrorism Bill from "The Secretary of State may make a
control order against an individual" to "The Secretary of State may for a control order [...]". In March 2003, he voted that the case had not yet been made for
war against Iraq. In June 2003, he voted against a motion that would have recalled the Prime Minister's assertion that
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that could be used at
45 minutes' notice, and against launching an independent inquiry into the intelligence received and the decisions that were based on it. In June 2007, he voted against a motion calling for an independent inquiry by a committee of
privy counsellors into the
Iraq War. Francis fought against the closing of
Port Talbot Magistrates' Court and the moving of administrative posts to other locations, saying, "Local justice needs to take place in a local setting." He suggested that Wales could have a carers' commissioner based on the
Children's Commissioner for Wales. In February 2011, it was reported that Francis had been quoted in a
leaked US diplomatic cable. The cable by a US embassy political officer dated from 2008 and discussed the upcoming
Welsh Labour leadership election to choose a successor to the retiring
Rhodri Morgan. Francis was quoted as claiming that all of the prospective candidates who were already members of the
Welsh Assembly were seen as flawed by the
Welsh Labour Party and suggesting that many in the party were hoping for a "white knight" to be "
parachute[d] in" from outside the Assembly. However, Francis claimed that he could not recall the conversation, suggesting that "it sounds as if the diplomat suffers from poor shorthand" and stating that "it is on the record that I was an early supporter of
Carwyn Jones [...] I would certainly not have supported such an absurd suggestion as parachuting anyone into the assembly". On 22 November 2013, Francis announced he would be standing down as MP for Aberavon at the
2015 general election.
Stephen Kinnock, son of former Labour leader
Neil Kinnock, was selected to succeed Francis as the Labour candidate for Aberavon. == Personal life ==