The Right Honourable The Lord Elis-Thomas PC AM |
|
---|---|
Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales | |
In office 12 May 1999 – 11 May 2011 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Preceded by | New post |
Succeeded by | Rosemary Butler |
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Dwyfor Meirionnydd Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (1999-2007) |
|
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 6 May 1999 |
|
Majority | 8,868 (40.1%) |
Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Meirionnydd (Feb. 1974-1983) |
|
In office 28 February 1974 – 9 April 1992 |
|
Preceded by | William Edwards |
Succeeded by | Elfyn Llwyd |
Personal details | |
Born | 18 October 1946 Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
Political party | Plaid Cymru |
Spouse(s) | Elen M. Williams Mair Parry Jones (present) |
Children | 3 |
Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC, AM, (born 18 October 1946) is a Welsh politician and was the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales until 2011. He is a member of the House of Lords, a former leader of Plaid Cymru, and, since 2004, a privy counsellor.
Contents |
Thomas was born in the Priory Hospital in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire and brought up in the Llandysul area of Ceredigion, and in Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley.
In 1970, he married Elen M. Williams and had three sons. They later divorced, and from the mid-1980s until 1992 his partner was Marjorie Thompson, the chairwoman 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 Llandaff in Cardiff (when working at the National Assembly) and Betws-y-Coed (in the Aberconwy constituency).
He was the chairman 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 Chairman of Screen between 1992 and 1999. He was also a director and vice-chairman 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.
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.
As of 2011, Elis-Thomas is also a member 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 also held the position of Presiding Officer since the Assembly's inception in 1999 until 2011. Making an announcement at a Senedd reception, he accepted the position of honorary president of anti-fascist organisation Searchlight Cymru.
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by William Edwards |
Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd 1974 – 1983 |
Constituency renamed |
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 | ||
New constituency | Assembly Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 1999 – 2007 |
Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Assembly Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
Preceded by Position Created |
Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales 1999–2011 |
Succeeded by Rosemary Butler |
First | Assembly Commission 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Dafydd Wigley |
President of Plaid Cymru 1984–1991 |
Succeeded by Dafydd Wigley |
|
|