Ben Lake | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament for Ceredigion Preseli Ceredigion (2017–2024) | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Williams |
| Majority | 14,789 (31.9%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ben Morgan Lake 22 January 1993 |
| Party | Plaid Cymru |
| Alma mater | Trinity College,Oxford |
Ben Morgan Lake [2] (born 22 January 1993) is a Plaid Cymru politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ceredigion Preseli,formerly Ceredigion,in 2017. [3]
Lake was born in Carmarthen and brought up in Lampeter. He is the son of a police officer and a council worker. [4] He attended Ffynnonbedr Primary School and Ysgol Bro Pedr. [5] After graduating from Trinity College,Oxford,with an undergraduate degree in History and Politics,and a master's degree in Modern British and European History, [6] he became a research officer in the National Assembly for Wales. [7] His first language is Welsh, [8] which was seen as a key factor in his election as MP for one of the strongest Welsh-speaking constituencies in Wales. [9]
In the 2017 general election,Lake won the Ceredigion constituency,gaining the seat from Liberal Democrat Mark Williams with 11,623 votes (29.2% of the overall vote). [10] In the 2019 general election,Lake retained his seat with 15,208 votes (37.9% of the overall vote). In the 2024 general election,Lake won the new Ceredigion Preseli constituency with 21,738 votes (46.9%).
Lake was appointed the Plaid Cymru spokesperson at Westminster for the Environment,Food &Rural Affairs,Education &Skills,Health,Communities &Local Government,Culture,Media &Sport and Constitutional Affairs shortly after his election in 2017. [11] Since the 2024 General Election,Lake has served as his party’s spokesperson for the Foreign,Commonwealth and Development Office,Science,Innovation,and Technology,and the Treasury.
Lake was appointed a member of the Welsh Affairs Committee in September 2017,and remains a member having been reappointed to the committee following both the 2019 and 2024 General Elections. [12] Lake also served as a member of the Public Accounts Committee from June 2023 until the 2024 General Election.
He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women. [13] He supported Rhun ap Iorwerth in the 2018 Plaid Cymru leadership election. [14]
In December 2017,Lake was awarded the 'Politician to Watch' prize as part of the ITV Welsh Politician of the Year Awards 2017. [15] In August 2019,Lake was awarded the MP of the Year Award,acknowledging MPs who actively work with under-represented and disadvantaged communities across the UK.2019 results [16]
Lake is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Forestry and Tree Planting,the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara,and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on France. [17]
