Ben Lake | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament for Ceredigion | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Williams |
| Majority | 6,329 (15.8%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ben Morgan Lake 22 January 1993 Glangwili General Hospital,Carmarthen,Carmarthenshire,Wales [1] |
| Political party | Plaid Cymru |
| Alma mater | Trinity College,Oxford |
Ben Morgan Lake [2] (born 22 January 1993) is a Plaid Cymru politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ceredigion since 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). He is currently the youngest MP in Wales,and the youngest ever elected for Plaid Cymru. [11] [12]
Lake is currently the Plaid Cymru spokesperson at Westminster for the Environment,Food &Rural Affairs,Education &Skills,Health,Communities &Local Government,Culture,Media &Sport and Constitutional Affairs. [13] Lake was appointed a member of the Welsh Affairs Committee in September 2017. [14] He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women. [15] He supported Rhun ap Iorwerth in the 2018 Plaid Cymru leadership election. [16]
In December 2017,Lake was awarded the 'Politician to Watch' prize as part of the ITV Welsh Politician of the Year Awards 2017. [17] In August 2019,Lake was nominated for the MP of the Year Award,acknowledging MPs who actively work with under-represented and disadvantaged communities across the UK. [18]
Lake is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Forestry and Tree Planting,and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara. [19] and a Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life. [20]
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