He was the second of two children born to Daphne (née Hope) and Norman Frederick Edwards; his father was an engine driver.
[2] In parliament, Edwards was a member of the Labor Right faction and was a "firm supporter of the Hawke government's economic and industrial relations reform agenda".
[4] Edwards lost his seat to the Liberal candidate Eoin Cameron at the 1993 election, despite a nationwide swing to the ALP.
He held board seats on the Anglican Schools Commission (1994–2017), the Perth Mint (2005–2015), and the Potato Marketing Corporation of Western Australia (2013–2017).
[2] Edwards is the co-founder and board member of The Graham (Polly) Farmer Foundation,[5] an educational not-for-profit[6] founded in 1995.