Leighton Andrews, a divisive but forward-thinking politician, lost his Rhondda seat in the recent Assembly elections.
The blow came three years after he was sacked over a row about the closure of a school in his constituency. Mr Andrews spent more than three years as education minister – and they were eventful ones.
In 2010, when the UK government trebled the cost of tuition fees, he spared Welsh students the raise by masterminding a plan to meet the extra costs through Assembly government funds. Welsh-domiciled students would receive the subsidy wherever in the UK they chose to study. He said at the time: “We do not support full-cost or near full-cost fees. We do not believe that higher education should be organised on the basis of a market. Higher education should be on the basis of the individual’s potential to benefit, and not on the basis of what they can afford to pay.”
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