Peter John Law (1 April 1948 – 25 April 2006)^[1] was a Welsh politician. For most of his career Law sat as a Labour councillor and subsequently Labour Co-operative Assembly member (AM) for Blaenau Gwent. Latterly he sat as an independent member of Parliament (MP) and AM for the same constituency.

Law resigned from the Labour Party in 2005. In the 2005 general election, he defeated the Labour candidate by over 9,000 votes. The Daily Telegraph described his victory as "one of the most spectacular general election results of modern times".^[2]

Born in Abergavenny, Law was educated at Grofield Secondary School and then attended Nant-y-Glo Community College.^[2] He later studied at the Open University.^[1] He ran a General Store between 1964 and 1987. He was subsequently appointed chair of Gwent Healthcare NHS Trust.^[3]

Law served as a councillor for Nantyglo and Blaenau Urban District Council between 1970 and 1974. He continued to serve as a councillor on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council until 1999 and was appointed mayor for 1988-1989.^[1]

He was latterly a close ally of Llew Smith, MP for Blaenau Gwent from 1992, and was selected for the constituency in the first elections to the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, winning the seat easily.^[4] He was appointed to the cabinet of Alun Michael as Assembly Secretary for Local Government and Housing, but lost his post in a cabinet reshuffle in 2000 by successor First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan.

When Morgan formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, Law made no secret of his opposition to the decision and was not retained in the administration. He became a vociferous backbench critic and following his re-election with an increased majority in the 2003 election^[5] he stood as candidate for the Deputy Presiding Officer of the Welsh Assembly. However, the Labour AMs voted instead for John Marek who was an Independent AM, thereby ensuring that an opposition member was in the Chair and unable to vote against the Welsh Assembly Government.

Law married Trish Bolter in 1976 and they have three daughters and two sons.^[2] They lived in Nantyglo.^[12]

Law died at his home in Nantyglo, aged 58, suffering from a recurrent brain tumour first diagnosed during the 2005 election campaign. As a result of his death, there were by-elections in Blaenau Gwent for both the UK Parliament and the Welsh Assembly seats. In the by-elections Law's former agent, Dai Davies, won the election to Law's former Westminster seat, while his widow Trish Law succeeded him in the Welsh Assembly. Both stood under the banner of the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.

His widow has claimed that he was offered a peerage to not stand against Labour in Blaenau Gwent in 2005, an allegation denied by Labour.^[13] The claim had considerable media impact because of the ongoing Cash for Peerages police investigation.

Law's funeral was held on Thursday 4 May 2006, at Christchurch in Ebbw Vale, exactly a year after he was elected to parliament.^[14] Some schools and businesses closed in order to allow people to see the cortège, and people lined the streets, with the funeral described as the biggest in the town since that of Nye Bevan. Law was cremated at Gwent Crematorium.^[12] On 10 May 2006 a thanksgiving service took place at St Paul's Church for those unable to get a seat or unable to attend Law's funeral.^[15]

In December 2007 a memorial concert in honour of Law was held locally, with the proceeds raised donated to Hospice of the Valleys. On 10 December 2007 a plaque in Law's honour was also installed at the new Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station, with the location chosen to mark his years of campaigning for a railway link to Cardiff to be restored for the community.^[16][17]

• List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service