In the latter portfolio he was seen as particularly successful in handling delicate labour relations.

BBC: Profile: Irish election contenders

He is Plaid's spokesman on local government, housing and transport, and last year was heavily critical of Labour's handling of council tax benefit.

BBC: Rhodri Glyn Thomas Plaid Cymru AM to stand down in 2016

The economic crisis has hardly been fertile territory for the Conservatives, but their leader clearly judged it was time to plough into Labour's handling of the problems - and hope to bury the awkward questions over his shadow chancellor George Osborne.

BBC: ANALYSIS BY CAROLE WALKER

Opponents welcomed the money, but said it represented a "U-turn" and attacked Labour's "shambolic" handling of the situation, which saw AMs recalled to the assembly for a vote during the Christmas recess.

BBC: Houses, newport

And I think that the longer Labour have been in office, the less they're trusted in handling it, because the system has the same basic flaws which the Government not only hasn't put right but in fact are making worse.

BBC: News | BREAKFAST WITH FROST | Interview with shadow health secretary Liam Fox

Labour wants an inquiry into whether Mr Hunt broke the ministerial code in his handling of News Corp's bid for BSkyB, firstly by misleading Parliament and secondly by not taking responsibility for the actions of his special adviser.

BBC: PMQs: Cameron unfazed over Lib Dems' abstention on Hunt

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the government had been "slow off the mark" in handling the scandal and clearer guidance should have been offered, including to schools and hospitals.

BBC: Horsemeat: Cases not tip of iceberg, says Sainsbury's boss

His handling so far of the tricky welfare-reform issue has been assured, provoking neither indignation among Labour backbenchers nor yet the hostility of a Treasury reluctant to pay for expensive programmes to propel benefit claimants into work.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

But Labour MP Keith Vaz accused the commissioner of showing a lack of "basic policing instinct" over his handling of the affair and said he "seemed to have no regret for anything that has happened".

BBC: UK Politics