Born: 12 March 1947

Education: Llandovery College. University of Wales.

Personal: Married to Elizabeth. Two sons, one daughter.

Non-political career: Royal Marine. MI6. Journalist.

Political career: Contested Camarthen (1987) and Vale of Glamorgan (1989); elected MP for Clywd North in 1992; parliamentary private secretary to Foreign Office minister David Heathcoat-Amory 1993-1994; parliamentary under secretary of state at the Welsh Office 1994-6 but resigned after allegations of an affair; contested Clwyd West in 1997 General Election; Welsh Tory leader, November 1998-.

In my own words: While at the Welsh Office he once described Welsh Labour councillors as "short, fat, slimy and corrupt".

On Welsh: "We are perfectly happy to continue to promote the Welsh language. But we will not discriminate against those Welsh people who don't speak Welsh, or indeed anyone else who comes to live in Wales."

On Plaid Cymru: "They are an anti-British party. They reject everything that is British: our history, our values, our great achievements, our language, indeed the very existence of our British family.

"They want Wales out of the United Kingdom and into a federal European state. They want separation from England so that Wales can be ruled by Brussels."

How others see him: Fluent Welsh speaker but against compulsory Welsh lessons for all 14- to 16-year-olds.

At Welsh Office (then headed by John Redwood) he was known as "Redwood's Rottweiler" for his combative nature;