Dafydd Elis-Thomas
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| The Right Honourable The Lord Elis-Thomas PC AM |
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| Assumed office May 12, 1999 |
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| Born | October 18, 1946  Carmarthen, Wales |
| Political party | Plaid Cymru |
For the Little Britain Character, see List of Little Britain characters#Daffyd Thomas
The Rt Hon Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas PC AM, (born 18 October 1946) is a Welsh politician and current Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales. He is a member of the House of Lords, a former leader of Plaid Cymru and was made a privy counsellor in 2004.
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[edit] Personal
He was born in the Priory Hospital in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire and brought up in the Llandysul area of Ceredigion, and, later, in Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley.
In 1970 he married Elen M. Williams and had three sons. The marriage was later dissolved, and from the mid-1980s until 1992 his partner was Marjorie Thompson, the chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In 1993 he married Mair Parry Jones, who is head of the translation department at the National Assembly. He currently lives in Llandaf in Cardiff (when working at the National Assembly) and Betws-y-Coed (in his constituency).
[edit] Professional career
He was the chair of the Welsh Language Board between 1994 and 1999, and is a former member of the Arts Council of Wales and the British Film Institute where he was Chair of Screen between 1992 and 1999. He was also a director and vice-chair of Cynefin Environmental Ltd. between 1992 and 1999. A former university lecturer, he has also been the president of Bangor University since 2000, as well as currently being a member of the governing body of the Church in Wales.
[edit] Political career
[edit] UK Parliament
Having served as Member of Parliament for the Meirionnydd Westmister constituency between 1974 and 1983, initially as the "Baby of the House", and the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Westminster constituency since 1983, he was made a life peer in 1992, and changed his surname from Thomas to Elis-Thomas by deed poll, enabling him to take the title Baron Elis-Thomas, of Nant Conwy in the County of Gwynedd.[1]
[edit] National Assembly for Wales
As of 2007, Elis-Thomas is also a member and the Presiding Officer (i.e. speaker, ambassador and signer of legislation) of the National Assembly for Wales, where he represented the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Assembly constituency from 1999 until the 2007 election, and then the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency. He has held the position of Presiding Officer since the Assembly's inception in 1999. Making an announcement at a Senedd reception he accepted the position of honorary president of Communist organization Searchlight Cymru. Lord Elis-Thomas later became infamous in Wales for making the following statement to the Western Mail News Paper: "When I sit in my chair in our new debating chamber, I am ashamed when I look out and see before me a sea of white faces.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
[edit] Offices held
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Edwards |
Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd 1974 – 1983 |
Succeeded by (constituency renamed) |
| Preceded by (new constituency) |
Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 1983 – 1992 |
Succeeded by Elfyn Llwyd |
| Preceded by Bernadette Devlin |
Baby of the House 1974 |
Succeeded by Hélène Hayman |
| National Assembly for Wales | ||
| Preceded by (new post) |
Assembly Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 1999 – 2007 |
Succeeded by (constituency abolished) |
| Preceded by (new constituency) |
Assembly Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by (new post) |
Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales 1999 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by (new post) |
Assembly Commission 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Dafydd Wigley |
President of Plaid Cymru 1984–1991 |
Succeeded by Dafydd Wigley |
