He was an opposition junior frontbench spokesman until 1992, when he was made shadow Welsh Secretary, and took up the real post after the 1997 general election.
He became an assembly member in the first elections in 1998, and was poised to become its leader. However in late 1998 a scandal erupted when he was robbed at knifepoint after going for a meal with a man he had met while walking on Clapham Common in London, a well-known gay meeting place. The full details of the incident (which he famously called a "moment of madness") have never emerged, and he was forced to step down as both Secretary of State for Wales and the Labour Party's candidate to lead the new Welsh Assembly. He was, however, elected to the Assembly and initially chaired the Finance Committee, until further revelations and disagreements with the Labour leadership resulted in his resignation.
He stood down from Parliament at the 2001 general election and was forced to stand down at the 2003 assembly elections after The Sun printed yet more accusations against him.