PROFILE :PETER HAIN

Peter Hain has admitted that more than £100,000 of donations towards his bid to become Labour's deputy leader were not declared as they should have been. He said his commitment to his two cabinet jobs meant he had not paid closer attention to his campaign finances. Peter Hain holds two Cabinet jobs - Wales, and Work and Pensions

The Chelsea-supporting 57-year-old holds the twin portfolios of Work and Pensions and Wales Secretary. He is a highly ambitious politician, whose long political career has taken him from president of the Young Liberals and anti-apartheid campaigner, into the Labour cabinet. He has been Secretary of State for Wales since October 2002, and took up his Work and Pensions role in Gordon Brown's first reshuffle. He moved from the Northern Ireland office where he had enjoyed a high profile, helping to broker the historic power-sharing agreement between unionists and republicans at Stormont.

Born in Nairobi and brought up in South Africa, Mr Hain was educated at Pretoria Boys High School, the University of London and Sussex University. By 1969, aged 19, he was a leading anti-apartheid campaigner, making the headlines with his disruption of the all-white South African rugby team's tour of the UK. In the UK he joined the Young Liberals, becoming chairman in 1971 and remaining a prominent activist throughout the 1970s.

The South African security services attempted and failed to have him framed for a bank robbery in 1975, the same year that he married his first wife Patricia, the mother of his two sons. He joined the Labour Party in 1977 and worked as a trade union official until entering the Commons at a 1991 by-election in Neath. His left-wing credentials were established by his membership of the Tribune Group, a reputation underlined by his Commons performances. But this did not prevent him from being granted a seat on New Labour's front bench following Tony Blair's 1997 general election victory.

His first job in government was as junior Welsh Office minister, where he was responsible for managing Alun Michael's campaign for the leadership of Welsh Labour. Mr Hain was then moved to the Foreign Office as minister for Africa, where he enjoyed a much higher profile than is normal for that role, with interventions over Zimbabwe.

After a short stint at the Department of Trade and Industry as energy minister, he returned to the Foreign Office after the 2001 general election as minister for Europe, which transformed him into an enthusiastic supporter of British entry into the European single currency. It was also in this role his reputation for speaking his mind - or dropping clangers, depending on your point of view - was forged.

Many believed he was given licence by Tony Blair to say the unsayable on Europe, and he often came under fire for his supposed gaffes, which many in Westminster saw as deliberate attempts to test the water of public opinion on the euro and other controversial matters.

In early 2003 he provoked genuine anger among Eurosceptics when he dismissed the EU Constitution as a "tidying-up exercise". His appeal to those campaigning for a referendum to "put away their placards" also seemed provocative to some, particularly given his own history of political activism. He then landed himself in trouble with his own party by appearing to suggest the European elections should be a referendum on the constitution.

A self-confessed Kinnockite, Mr Hain has displayed the odd flash of old-time socialism from time to time. Within weeks of taking over from John Reid as Commons leader in 2003, he was slapped down by Mr Blair for remarks that higher earners should contribute more in tax. During the Labour deputy leadership race, he suggested voluntary curbs on "obscene" City bonuses. Mr Hain, who has declared another £80,000 that he spend on the campaign, came fifth out of six contenders to succeed John Prescott and become Gordon Brown's number two.

The winner was announced in June but it was 29 November before questions emerged about Mr Hain's campaign donations, amid a furore over a separate donations row engulfing Labour. As the police began to investigate more than £650,000 of donations made to the party by property developer David Abrahams, under other people's names, other problems with donations came to light.

Harriet Harman came under fire for accepting a disguised donation for her successful bid to become Labour's deputy leader. Wendy Alexander's campaign team admitted accepting an offshore donation for her bid to be Labour's Scottish leader. Both said they acted in good faith. Mr Hain admitted failing to register a £5,000 donation to the Electoral Commission - something he blamed on an "administrative error" which he wanted to declare "in light of recent events".

But it soon became clear it was not the only gift to go undeclared. When the full scale was disclosed in January he blamed the demands of his cabinet jobs for not keeping a closer eye on his deputy leadership bid's administration. "I understand that people will ask how I could have allowed this number of donations to go undeclared at the time," he said. "The fact is that during this period, I gave my campaign for office within the Labour Party second priority to my government responsibilities."

The BBC's Nick Robinson said a "spending binge" by his campaign team meant they ended up asking wealthy friends to donate to his deputy leadership bid - long after he had lost the race.
BBC NEWS REPORT.