Rhodri Glyn Thomas | |
---|---|
Minister for Heritage | |
In office 11 July 2007 –18 July 2008 | |
First Minister | Rhodri Morgan |
Preceded by | New office |
Succeeded by | Alun Ffred Jones |
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | |
In office 6 May 1999 –4 April 2016 | |
Preceded by | New Assembly |
Succeeded by | Adam Price |
Majority | 8,469 (28.9%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Wrexham,Wales | 11 April 1953
Political party | Plaid Cymru |
Alma mater | University of Wales,Lampeter,Bangor University,Aberystwyth University |
Rhodri Glyn Thomas (born 11 April 1953) is a Welsh politician. He was the Plaid Cymru National Assembly for Wales Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr from 1999 to 2016,when he did not re-stand for election. Following his retirement from the Assembly he was appointed President of the National Library of Wales.
Thomas was born in Wrexham,Denbighshire. He attended Ysgol Bodhyfryd,Wrexham,and then Ysgol Morgan Llwyd,Wrexham before leaving for the University of Wales,Aberystwyth in 1975 to study for a BA degree in Welsh and Education in 1975. [1] After graduating,he studied for a BD degree in Theology at the University of Wales,Bangor and Bala-Bangor Theological Seminary under R. Tudur Jones. In 1991 he studied for a MTh degree at the University of Wales,Lampeter,reading American Theology although the final thesis he submitted was on the Union of Welsh Independents (Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg) role in the struggle to revive the Welsh Language in the 20th century.
Thomas is a Minister of Religion,the director of a language consultancy,a former Chair of CND Cymru and Welsh spokesperson for the Forum of Private Business.
In 1992,Thomas fought the old Carmarthen constituency in the General Election for Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales. In the 1997 General Election he stood for Plaid Cymru in Carmarthen East &Dinefwr. In 1999 he fought the same constituency in the National Assembly Elections,winning by 6,980 votes. He was reelected in 2007 with an increased majority of over 8,000 making it the Assembly's second safest seat. Plaid Cymru entered into a coalition government with Welsh Labour in July 2007,and Rhodri Glyn Thomas was appointed as Minister for Heritage (19 July 2007). He resigned from this role in July 2008 [2] after walking into a Cardiff pub with a lit cigar,thus breaking the law. [3]
In November 2008,having travelled to the Gaza Strip alongside other European politicians,Thomas called for the international community to talk to the Palestinian group Hamas. "I can see no chance of peace in the Middle East until a dialogue is opened with Hamas," he said. "Since the election,Israel has imprisoned around 30 Hamas MPs. Whatever you think about their stance,the fact is they were democratically elected in an election which had a very high turnout and whose results were validated by international observers. The Israeli position is that Hamas are terrorists,but it isn’t that long ago that Nelson Mandela was described as a terrorist by Margaret Thatcher." [4]
In December 2016 Thomas announced that he would stand as a candidate for election to Carmarthenshire County Council,contesting the St Clears ward. [5] However,he was heavily defeated at the election by the sitting Independent councillor.
At the Academi 2008 Wales Book of the Year ceremony,Thomas incorrectly announced that Tom Bullough was the winner. The prize was,in fact,awarded to Dannie Abse,Thomas having read the card wrongly. [6]
Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing,Welsh nationalist political party in Wales,committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Adam Robert Price is a Welsh politician who served as Leader of Plaid Cymru from September 2018 to May 2023. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2016,having previously been a Member of Parliament (MP) for the same Westminster constituency from 2001 to 2010.
Simon George Thomas is a Welsh former politician who was a member of Plaid Cymru. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Ceredigion from 2000 to 2005,and an Assembly Member in the National Assembly for Wales representing the Mid and West Wales list between 2011 and 2018.
Helen Mary Jones is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician,who was a member of the Senedd from 1999 to 2011 and again from August 2018 until 29 April 2021.
Ammanford is a town and community in Carmarthenshire,Wales,with a population of 5,411 at the 2011 census. It is a former coal mining town. The built-up area had a population of 7,945 with the wider urban area even bigger.
Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas,Baron Elis-Thomas,,is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1984 to 1991 and represented the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the Senedd from 1999 to 2021.
Elin Jones is a Welsh politician who has served as the Llywydd of the Senedd since 2016. A member of Plaid Cymru,Jones has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ceredigion since 1999.
Glyn Wise is a British television personality and Church in Wales minister from Blaenau Ffestiniog,Wales. He is best known for being the runner-up of the seventh series of Big Brother in 2006.
Ysgol Morgan Llwyd is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in Wrexham,in north-east Wales,UK. It is the first,and is the only Welsh-medium secondary school in Wrexham County Borough. It is named after the seventeenth-century preacher and author Morgan Llwyd. The school has been open at its present location in Cefn Road since 2000. Previously it was located on Stockwell Grove. The Headteacher is Ms. Catrin Prichard.
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. It is one of eight constituencies in the Mid and West Wales electoral region,which elects four additional members,in addition to eight constituency members,to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Margaret Delyth Evans is a Welsh former politician who served as Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs,Culture and Environment in the National Assembly for Wales from 2000 to 2003. A member of the Labour Party,she was Assembly Member (AM) for Mid and West Wales from 2000 to 2003.
David Jonathan Edwards is a Welsh politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2010. Elected as a Plaid Cymru MP,he had the whip withdrawn in May 2020 after he accepted a police caution for domestic violence against his wife. He sat as an Independent MP after the party's disciplinary panel suspended him. His membership of Plaid was restored in July 2022,and the whip was returned the following month although following further revelations he stated that he would not rejoin the Plaid group of MPs at Westminster.
The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland,as well as the Scottish Parliament election took place. This election was preceded by the previous Assembly election in 2003.
Suzy Davies is a Welsh Conservative Party politician,who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales West from 2011 to 2021. She was elected first on the Welsh Conservatives party list for the region in the 2011 election.
Llŷr Huws Gruffydd,is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician,serving as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for the North Wales region since 2011. He acted as interim leader of Plaid Cymru from 16 May to 16 June 2023.
Rhun ap Iorwerth is a Welsh journalist and politician serving as the Leader of Plaid Cymru since June 2023. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ynys Môn since 2013.
The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016,to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales,now known as the Senedd. It was the fifth election for the National Assembly,the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.
This is a list of Assembly Memberselected to the fifth National Assembly for Wales at the 2016 election. In May 2020,the representatives were renamed to Members of the Seneddin the fifth Senedd,they would be known as the fifth Senedd for the remainder of their term. From the 2021 election members would be elected under this new title of Senedd. There are a total of 60 members elected,40 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 20 members being returned from five regions,each electing four AMs through mixed member proportional representation. In between elections,members of the legislature may not necessarily be of the same party or the same candidate elected in 2016.
Rhodri Mabon ap Gwynfor is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician who has been Member of the Senedd (MS) for Dwyfor Meirionnydd since 2021.
Cefin Arthur Campbell is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician who has been Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales region since 2021.