Davies chosen as assembly candidate

RON DAVIES, the former Secretary of State for Wales who resigned over an "error of judgment" on Clapham Common, has been selected to stand for the Welsh Assembly, writes Rachel Sylvester, Political Editor.

Labour Party members in the Caerphilly constituency voted yesterday to choose him as their candidate.

The result will allow the former cabinet minister, who had hoped to become leader of the assembly, to begin a political fightback. He was chosen in the first ballot in which he was standing against three other candidates. This week he will seek to raise his profile again by giving a lecture on devolution to the Institute of Welsh Affairs in Cardiff.

Mr Davies resigned from the Government three months ago after what he described as a "moment of madness". His car was stolen after he fell into conversation with a stranger on Clapham Common. Although he had been walking around the south London gay area alone late at night, he consistently denied that there was any sexual element to his encounter.

At the Welsh Office, Mr Davies piloted legislation on devolution through Parliament and has long been an advocate of greater independence for Wales.