[1] A member of the Labour Party, he served in government under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007.
Ainger was born in Sheffield in 1949, and was educated at the Netherthorpe Grammar School in Staveley, Derbyshire, and after leaving education in 1967 moved to Milford Haven and became a dock worker at the Marine and Port Services of Pembroke Dock.
In 2005, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, a position he held until Tony Blair departed office in 2007.
Ainger spent the remainder of his tenure in Parliament as a backbencher, serving on the Treasury Select Committee from November 2007 to May 2010.
At the 2010 general election, Ainger was defeated by the Conservative candidate Simon Hart.