How a break in storm led to downfall of minister

RON DAVIES might still be a Welsh Secretary if a sudden break in the weather had not enabled him to escape floods that had marooned him and thousands of his constituents all weekend.

Twenty-four hours later the weather closed in again and a second round of flood warnings would have kept him at home and clear of "Crack Alley" that led to his downfall. The weather was so bad it claimed two lives in South Wales and marooned a TV crew driving to interview him about Welsh policy.

During a short lull on Monday, the former Welsh Secretary returned to London, only to find himself in the eye of the biggest political storm to hit the career of any Labour Cabinet minister for 20 years. Now Mr Davies must regret travelling the 150 miles back from Newport to Clapham. Mr Davies claims he was robbed just before 10pm and his car, personal belongings and mobile phone stolen. His House of Commons pass was apparently thrown out of the car as it sped away. He was left standing alone in St Matthew's Road, known as "Crack Alley", on the notorious St Matthew's Estate in Brixton. He confessed to the Prime Minister at a Downing Street meeting on Tuesday morning and his resignation was accepted. Mr Davies shares his terraced home in London with John Evans, now Lord Evans, Labour MP Peter Pike, Foreign Office minister Anthony Lloyd and official Michael Murray. Mr Davies is married to Christina, 48, and has a 13-year-old child called Angharad. The former Welsh Secretary, who has been married for nearly 17 years, refused to be drawn on whether he would also quit as Labour's candidate for First Secretary in the planned Welsh Assembly. The Conservatives challenged him to make his position clear and friends promised to back Mr Davies if he wanted to fight on. Scotland Yard released descriptions of three suspects who robbed Mr Davies and forced him out of his G-registration gold Granada.

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