| Jillian Evans | |
|---|---|
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2009 |
|
| Constituency | Wales |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 May 1959 Ystrad Rhondda, Glamorgan, Wales |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Political party | Plaid Cymru |
| Spouse(s) | Syd Morgan |
| Alma mater | University of Wales, Aberystwyth Glamorgan University |
| Occupation | Member of the European Parliament |
| Website | http://www.jillevans.net/ |
Jillian Evans (born 8 May 1959 in Ystrad Rhondda, Glamorgan) is Plaid Cymru Member of the European Parliament for Wales and First Vice President of The Greens–European Free Alliance group - the fourth largest in the European Parliament. She is also President of Plaid Cymru and chair of CND Cymru.
In June 1999, she and fellow candidate Eurig Wyn were elected as the first MEPs in Plaid Cymru's history. She was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2009. She is a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Delegation for relations with Iraq. She deputises on the Agriculture Committee. She is also Plaid Cymru spokesperson for European and International issues.
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She was educated at Bodringallt Infants' and Junior schools, Ystrad, where her head-teacher was John Haydn Davies, conductor of Treorci Male Voice Choir. Evans later attended Tonypandy Grammar School, the University of Wales, Aberystwyth where she gained a BA, and the Polytechnic of Wales, Trefforest (now Glamorgan University) where she earned an M.Phil. She speaks both Welsh and English, having learned the former as a second language in Tonypandy GS being taught by Penri Jones, now a Gwynedd county councillor.
Evans worked as a Research Assistant at the former Polytechnic of Wales where she also gained her M.Phil. degree. She later worked for the National Federation of Women's Institutes in Wales for six years with the late Rhiannon Bevan. She continues to be an associate member of Glamorgan WI. Following her first election to public office, she took up the post of Wales Organiser for CHILD - the infertility support network.
Evans has long been a political activist and community campaigner before being elected to public office. Her political credits include
Her party posts include national Chair of Plaid Cymru from 1994 to 1996. She is a long-standing supporter and member of the European Free Alliance (EFA), the pan-European grouping of Plaid Cymru's sister parties, which campaigns for independence for the historic nations of Europe and linguistic rights for minority languages.
She was elected to Rhondda Borough Council in 1992, Mid-Glamorgan County Council in 1993, and, following the abolition of these, to the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in 1996. She was elected to the European Parliament at the 1999 elections, becoming the first Plaid Cymru MEP. Evans was re-elected at the 2004 elections and again in June 2009. She stood for the Rhondda constituency in the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 and came second with votes.
In her first parliamentary term, Evans was vice president of the Women's Rights & Equal Opportunities Committee, a member of the Environment Committee and the Palestinian Delegation. She is currently the President of the European Free Alliance (EFA) group of MEPs and First Vice President of the Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament. Her main political interests are the environment and international affairs.
On 4 November 2011 she was fined £575 after refusing to pay her TV licence fee in protest over changes to the Welsh-language channel S4C.[1]
| European Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of European Parliament for Wales 1999 – present |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by John Dixon |
Chair of Plaid Cymru 1994–1996 |
Succeeded by Marc Phillips |
| Preceded by Dafydd Iwan |
President of Plaid Cymru 2010–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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